Card Shark, the game about cheating, social mobility, and getting stabbed by peasants, arrives on June 2

Devolver Digital announced today that Card Shark, the game of cheating at cards, climbing the ranks of society, and trying not to be murdered like a dog, will finally arrive on June 2.

Card Shark sounds very cool. Cheating is winning, as the saying goes, and being caught is very bad news, but there's a lot more going on here than just shuffling and dealing. You'll have to learn all sorts of tricks of the trade, use them to earn cash, and buy your way to better (and higher-stakes) games as you move from small provincial towns to luxurious mansions in 18th century France. It's a life of ups and downs, as Chris learned when he got shanked in a crappy rural barn after trying to con a local rube in a game of Three-card Monte.

“Card Shark really makes me feel like a skilled card cheat, especially when I have a great run at a table, pulling off my moves flawlessly, raising the bet to win a big pot, and finishing the game without the other players becoming completely suspicious,” Chris wrote. “I've learned about 8 different ways to cheat, but there are nearly 30 in the full game, and since certain methods wind up getting combined with others I imagine no two card games will ever really feel the same.”

And apparently there's a moral aspect to the game as well. Your mentor has zero qualms about taking every last franc from everyone you meet, but fleecing people who can ill afford it carries with it some potentially ugly consequences—to them, more than to you.

Card Shark is available for pre-purchase on Steam for 15% off the regular $20/£17/€20 price until the game launches on June 2, and if you'd like to try it out before then, you can get your hands on a demo right now. Find out more at cardsharkgame.com.