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  1. Features
  2. Card Game
  3. Card Shark
Supported

We got a scam artist to critique Card Shark, here's what he thought

By Imogen Mellor
published 19 July 2022

A scam expert and a game about scams? What could go wrong?

  • Comments
Card Shark
(Image credit: Nerial)

Card Shark isn't like other card games you might have played. I've been hooked on deckbuilders time and time again over the years, but Card Shark is more like a deck decimator rather than anything else. See, Card Shark is about scamming French aristocrats and trying your best to avoid death along the way. There are plenty of tricks within the game to learn and trick your opponents with—but just how accurate are they?

I spoke to Scam Nation's Brian Brushwood to uncover some of the secrets of Card Shark and the techniques it presents. Brian is an expert in card tricks and you may have seen his work on YouTube, The Tonight Show, Penn and Teller's: Fool Us!, or even CNN. 

Brushwood, needless to say, knows what he's talking about when it comes to card tricks and how you might see them used today. So when given footage from Card Shark, he had a lot to say about its genuine authenticity, card 'codes', and how, although these tricks are accurate, they'd put you in a lot of danger if you tried exposing or performing them today. Watch below to see his entire reaction. 

Let me tell you, magic tricks over a call are still pretty cool. Brushwood has shown just how impressively accurate the card tricks are in Card Shark and it's a great basis for getting a hang of scam fundamentals. Like he said though, it might not be worth trying to trick anyone seriously with them if you like keeping your legs intact, but hey, maybe you can fool a friend or two with the fundamentals. You can check out Brian's work on Scam Nation or his podcast the World's Greatest Con. 

PC Gamer created this content as part of a paid partnership with Devolver Digital. The contents of this article are entirely independent and solely reflect the editorial opinion of PC Gamer.

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Imogen Mellor
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Imogen has been playing games for as long as she can remember but finally decided games were her passion when she got her hands on Portal 2. Ever since then she’s bounced between hero shooters, RPGs, and indies looking for her next fixation, searching for great puzzles or a sniper build to master. When she’s not working for PC Gamer, she’s entertaining her community live on Twitch, hosting an event like GDC, or in a field shooting her Olympic recurve bow.

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