Card Shark. The most original games of 2022

The graphics may not knock you off your feet, but it's easier to focus on using your wits when there's nothing overly beautiful around. (Photo credit: Card Shark, Devolver Digital, 2022)

In fact, the graphics in this game may seem "uninteresting" only if we compare it with typical video games. Because here, we get hand-painted backgrounds, stylized for 18th-century art. In individual gambling houses (especially the more important ones) we will hear pieces composed by Andrea Boccadoro and performed by an actual orchestra!

The gameplay itself is all about gambling. However, neither a poker face nor a strong starting deck (as in Gwent ) count the most, as it's all about the art of cheating. It's not as easy as you might think, and not so hard that you couldn't fool the king's very own people in it.

We deal cards over a knife equipped with a small mirror, watch the hands of bad dealers, and can even distract everyone, e.g. by the appearance of another miracle of Count Saint Germain. It's not an easy game, but if you give it a chance, you can get hooked for a long time.

Astral Ascent is not an original position in terms of aesthetics. Just a nice mix of metroidvania and action. However, the plot itself turns out to be original, as the most important thing for the player is to find the personifications of zodiac signs and obtain extraordinary powers from them.

1. Card Shark in our encyclopedia