Card Sharks Review
Card Sharks is fun for a short while, and it does an acceptable job of capturing the atmosphere of the show--but that doesn't mean it makes for a compelling mobile experience.
The Good
- Familiar theme song
- Classic gameplay.
The Bad
- Too short
- Bare-bones construction
- Needs more oomph.
Card Sharks, hosted by Jim Perry, and then a few years later revived by Bob Eubanks, is a classic TV show that asks players to bet money on greater than/less than odds. The game for mobile is almost identical to the show, although the rules vary slightly from both the NBC and CBS versions. The only thing this changes is the total possible earnings, which were notably low on both iterations of the show but can be quite high in the game. Card Sharks is fun for a short while, and it does an acceptable job of capturing the atmosphere of the show--but that doesn't mean it makes for a compelling mobile experience.
The game begins with a survey question asked of 100 people, such as: "We asked 100 women if they had ever turned down a marriage proposal from a millionaire." The first player, which in single-player is the computer, will pick a benchmark, and then you must pick whether or not the answer is higher or lower than that number. If you guess correctly, then you have control of the board. In the first round, you're given five cards, all facedown except for the first one. If you don't like the first card--for example, if it's in between 7 and 10--you have the opportunity to swap it out once. You must then guess whether the next card will be higher or lower than the visible one. This continues on down the row, until you've answered them all correctly. If you miss one, the computer gets control and attempts to guess all five on a different row of cards. If you win the first round, you're brought to the money round, where you must turn your earnings from the first round into a lot more money. This is done the same way, by guessing higher or lower values, but on each guess, you are able to wager whatever amount of money you choose. The only requirements are that you have money to bet, you bet at least $100, and that on the last row, the "Big Bet" row, you must wager at least half your earnings. The first card can be swapped out once on each of the three rows.
The survey questions are entertaining, and thankfully you can download more questions so that they don't get repetitive. Every wager is a 50/50 chance, and you can swap cards and freeze gameplay to make it as easy on you as possible. The game does retain the catchy theme song from the original TV show, and that livens it up a bit.
If you liked the TV show, you'll be pleasantly surprised at the memories Card Sharks evokes, even if all of the graphics seem to be placeholders and don't really assume the appearance of either version of the show. There is a little more meat in the game with up to four person pass-and-play multiplayer and uploadable scoreboards. However, it would be difficult to get long-lasting value out of Card Sharks simply because of the very nature of the source material, which isn't that interesting. Card Sharks fans will probably be satisfied with this download, but other mobile gamers might want to look elsewhere to get their trivia jollies.
- GameSpot Scorefair
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