REVIEW: ACAAT (Any Card At Any Time) by Sebastien Macak and Philippe Molina
RATING: 10 OUT OF 10!
LINK TO REVIEW: http://straighttalkmagicreviews.com/?p=1967
PRICE: $22.99

This is a great app for your smart phone and the reactions are totally killer. You (the performer) take out two decks of cards and place them on a table. The spectator takes one deck and you take the other. The spectator can shuffle their deck and they can choose any card they want while your deck remains in the box (or you can shuffle the deck if you want). The spectator truly has a free choice of card (in fact, they can merely think of a card if they want to mentally choose a card). The spectator’s card is shuffled back into the deck and the performer indicates that he will find the card and asks the spectator to time him using the stopwatch function on the performer’s phone. When the card is found, the spectator hits stop on the stopwatch and looks at the time. So, for example, it took the performer 12.10 seconds to find the card. The spectator adds the numbers together (12+10) and comes to a total of 22. Then, the spectator deals down 22 cards from the performer’s deck and it matches the spectator’s chosen card. It really kills! Jaws open, minds befuddled, stares of astonishment!

The presented routine is just one of many ways you can present this trick, once you know the secret. This trick is based upon a stacked deck and the app comes preset with Tamariz’s Mnemonica stack. Notably, you do not need to have memorized the stack, but just have one deck in stacked order so do not be scared away if you do not have that skill under your belt. The app makes it incredibly easy to use a stacked deck. You can also input an alternate stacked deck if you wish or make up your own, but I went with the Tamariz stack because that is the one I learned years ago and it was already programmed into the app. Even if I did not know the Mnemonica stack, I would have just used it because it is ready to go and like I said above, you don’t need to have anything memorized.

An important factor in purchasing this app is that Macak updates the software. I heard from him directly that he is coming out with some very exciting new features in association with another program, including the possibility of displaying a picture of the selected card and a phone with the exact time on the stopwatch. This is another seriously impressive layer of fooling! I have not tried it, but am looking forward to testing that out (stay tuned for a follow-up review).

The app has the ability to personalize the display settings and what the screens look like so that it looks real. It appears that you may be able to use this app with peeks and the Inject app as well (which I have not used). The instructions are written and embedded in the app and give two basic routines. There is also a 17 minute explanatory video that was originally recorded in French, but translated to clear English. On the video, it also teaches a Magic Square routine, which I have not performed. I was a bit confused with some of the instructions, but it was nothing major. The video also teaches an amazing alternate input method which will permit the spectator to cut your deck and you will still be able to have the spectator deal down to their selected card.

An additional bonus is that there is a Facebook Group dedicated to ACAAT, but the downside is that much of the comments and entries are in French – and I don’t speak French!

The bottom line here is that this is one of my top 2 phone apps and I use it all the time. It is totally awesome and well worth the $22.99 that it is currently selling for on the App Store. If the 10 out of 10 rating wasn’t clear enough, I strongly urge you to buy this app.

Shame no offers at present