VN - Ren'Py - Karlsson's Gambit [v0.8.1 Part I] [Grym Gudinna Games]

This game has Good graphics, amazing story amazing characters and meaningful choices that actually change things.
If you are into femdom, stop reading the review and start playing. This is as good as it gets. But even if you don't like femdom, you can have lots of fun on the dom path.
One thing that really takes this game above the others(at least for me) is the fact that you also switch to a female characters pov at some points of the story and it is not just about seeing some cool scenes, you make choices that change her personality.
I want to say more about that but I shouldn't give spoilers. As I said, just go and play it.

Very good story and gameplay. Illustrations and choices are awesome. I love the femdom theme so I will say that I love this game. I also play the dominant role and is very good. Play a couple of times and change the choices so you can experience how deep is this game.

Good plot and characters. Amazing femdom route (MC will suffer), but maledom looks quite tame. Your choice really matters, there are dozens of variations in plot development and developer promises many endings. Some minor worldbuilding details can be rewritten to be more logical. Main problem of this game (for me)—it's 3d renders, they are just awful in first episodes. 2d would have gone a lot better, or stylized 3d. Kane's grimaces in some scenes are gold. Overall, one of the best western femdom VNs.

Overall, this game is one of the best and longest visual novels with an intelligent story with mystery, relevant choices with meaningful impact, and several interconnected branching paths. One playthrough lasts around 20h depending quite a lot on your reading speed. The review will contain mild spoilers.

It is important to note that it is not just a porn game but it is about "inter-company power struggle politics". I should emphasize that the company in question is really female dominated so themes of female domination (femdom) are prevalent in the worldbuilding. The "politics power plays" are played in this setting so even though a scene can have a plot going, it is usually accompanied by one of the characters getting off at the expense of other(s). Also, any cruelty is usually accompanied by pleasure of other characters, so if you are into seeing naked bodies and orgasms there is a lot of them (especially in later chapters). So you could say that the "porn advances the plot", but at the same time, the story is intelligent and does not devolve into one smut party.

For rating purposes, I should note that I played mostly with walkthroughs or SanchoMod (mod, so you see most of the impacts of your choices). I will comment about the spoilery stuff in an actual spoiler tag but my opinion could be influenced by this nevertheless.

You play mostly as a male protagonist (Kane) that starts at the bottom of the barrel and continuously either moves up (dominant MC "with optional exceptions") or not (this ranges from pathetic slave MC to subservient intelligent also slave). So either you have a dominant personality and some power or a submissive personality and almost no power (on the dominant path you can be selectively submissive, but as of chapter 6 most of the sex acts and story is the same as full dom).

This progression is not instant so even though you won't get humiliated on the dom path, for the first 4 chapters you are still mostly under the supervision of others, and sexual acts are mostly receiving blowjobs (without domination), inflicting some pain on command of others, or some sex where you are clearly the one that follows the command "fuck me", or "fuck her". Male domination comes into play in later chapters, where there's already someone under you. But still, a lot of characters are above Kane, so....

The game has also a secondary female MC (Olivia) and a ternary male MC (Seth). Seth's choices and screen time are so far largely irrelevant, so I won't comment on it. Olivia gets into a position of power quickly and engages in dominant acts (I have not tried to play in other directions but I believe she cannot be submissive as of this version). She is mostly a secondary protagonist BUT if you play Kane submissively then she gets more screen time, especially in chapters 5,6 (because then she is with Kane quite a lot). So without spoiling anything if you came for "female protagonist" and "female domination" it is really satisfactory later on (and since there is almost no other game of this genre, it is worthwhile to go through the male POV).

Now for the kinks. The non-avoidable that sub player receives are pain (kicking, slapping, tech, other), humiliation (verbal is quite harsh), pussy licking, boot/foot licking, other body worship, face-sitting, and other furniture-like use and chastity.
Other kinks that are mostly avoidable (not in worldbuilding, and not so much for pathetic sub-players) include pegging, watersport, cum eating, cuckoldry (for other characters), death, living furniture, face-dildos, pet-play/pony-play (maybe unavoidable?).
Olivia, and for a lesser degree also dom Kane, can be the domming partners in most of these as well.
What is great is that if you e.g. want to avoid pegging then you will most of the time not lose a scene but get another one instead (sometimes you have a choice about what other characters do without any consequence). It really encourages you to play in the way you want and not to select choices to see most of the content.

I will now go more into details of the game mechanics and choices in a spoiler (if you plan to play with sanchomod/playthrought it is safe to look).


The main (and only?) downside of this game is probably the fact that the meaningfulness of choices and intelligent storytelling results in a quite branched narrative, which consequently means that the story probably won't be completed in another several years.....
But yeah, give it a try.

I'm not a fan of heavy femdom and excessive humiliation, so for quite a long time I just ignore Karlsson's Gambit because of its "notoriety" of being one of the heaviest femdom-themed AVNs. Yet after seeing some reviews and currently lacking any other great AVNs to play, I finally decide to try it out and oh man it genuinely exceeds my expectation.

This is definitely one of the Top 3 choice-based AVNs I've ever played so far. YOUR CHOICE DOES MATTER, and I'm not talking about the usual relationship points. Your choice influences not only what kind of person MC (and also his sister, spoiler alert) could be, but also what kind of power/people he can rely on in order to get a hold of this situation. But the most impressive part of all is the fact that you have so many variations of combined choices that could lead to different paths and ramifications (the only other AVN that manages to achieve that goal in this kind of scope imo is BADIK, that alone says a lot about how amazing Karlsson's Gambit is).

Of course we can't ignore the elephant in the room: the Dom/Sub paths. As I've mentioned I choose only playing Dom role for my own sanity, and yes, you can't completely escape femdom contents even when you're on Dom paths. However, as you start to understand the worldbuilding and the overall theme of this game, these femdom moments become the kind of "necessary evil" in order to push the story forward and present MC's inner growth. You could really see how a Dom MC learns to take advantage of every situation and makes himself become more and more powerful to sway the opinion of others and draw allies. For a femdom-based AVN, this is definitely a pleasant surprise.

Renders are really awesome (I fucking love the little devil Katsumi and the Ice Queen Veronica) and sex scenes are decent. But frankly, all these pale in comparison to how intriguing both the main story and the relationship development between characters are. This is another level of "come for porn, stay for the story".

Overall, really amazing AVN. As an intricate choice-based game it has so much replayability for players to enjoy. Even though you might be a Dom player, you could still have a really good time playing it since both the amount of contents and the narration itself are really decent. Definitely a 5/5 experience for me.

This may just be the best choice-based game I've ever played so far. The storytelling is simply superb.

The dev is truly delving deep into their dark pscyhe. Both the renders and the pacing are excellent, really brings this dark world alive.

Could do with less descriptive narrations tho. The environmental storytelling is so strong already, there's no need for too much narration that just tells the obvious.

As a male dom enjoyer, I was concerned this femdom game may offer unsavory tastes, and I was right... only to a degree. Once you understand how this world functions and how the story moves forward, it all becomes necessary backdrop. Can confirm tht the Dom path is pure bliss by the end of ep6, especially if you make the correct choices.

Speaking of choices, they truly are so well structured. Both fun and intense, with so many replayabilities. I find myself having to really think and weigh carefully on many decisions even with a guide to help me, and that hasn't happened even with similar triple A titles.

In a word, truly breathtaking experience. The potential is immense and I believe it's only gonna get better, cuz the dev obviously love what they are crafting here with a passion rarely seen in this type of VNs.

USP: As of v0.6.2 this game remains one of the few AVNs that has a sweet relationship (optional) between brother and sister instead of devolving into incest, and a relationship between two brothers instead of one being dead or gay.

Plot: The story is interesting and presented at a good pace, although in the more recent chapters (5 to 7) move FAST. You won't feel it when going through the story because it's quite long and there's a lot of content, then you realise that in-game it's only 1 day! This makes sense in context, but it would be interesting how the story can keep up at this pace - it looks like the story might be pushing to a "Chapter 1 ending" within a few updates then moving on to a next phase of a story with a different premise, but we'll have to wait and see.

The story also gets complicated and is unplayable without a walkthrough unless you don't have a specific goal of who you want MC to be. Not a bad thing, but maybe consider a native in-game walkthrough.

A few of Chekov's guns are yet to be fired despite the story hinting that they would be quite early (e.g. a character asking MC to do something fot her sister but the meeting never happened and the choice never presented).

Surprisingly few kinks being explored, at least on the good dom path - not vanilla, but vanilla with some peanuts sprinkled on top. Would like to see some of the milder kinks.

Characters: All of the characters are well-defined and interesting, with constant new information slightly changing the perception of who they are. I could get a good feel of even the lowly characters. MC occasionally ask mundane stupid questions but is mostly competent. Second MC (sister) gets decent screen time and maybe gets into the "dominatrix" mood a bit too quickly, but still quite nice. I wish we see more of the brother, because familial relationships are lacking in AVNs.

Random observations: Men don't wear shirts, and women don't wear pants.

(Last version played: 0.6.2)
I've got only good things to say about this game. A very intriguing plot, a very interesting setup, a big cast of charismatic characters, every one of them with a distinctive personality... I didn't think I'd like it so much, I'm not a big fan of stories so centered in dom-slave dynamics, but I'm all in for well written post-apocaliptic dystopian setups, and this game has a very good one.

But I think what sets this game apart is its replayability. Because I don't think there is another game around here where decisions had bigger impact on the story. So many paths, so many posibilities… In fact, the dom route and the sub route diverge so much, it's like playing different games.

One of the best games in this site.

So, full disclosure, Femdom isn't really my thing. Just doesn't quite get my motor going. So when I downloaded this on a lark after seeing the ratings, I was really surprised how much I've enjoyed this game.. I think it's the story and setting that make it work for me. The idea of people caught up in the cogs of a corrupt and abusive system in the context of femdom is well integrated, and having duel, female/male protagonists sitting on opposite ends of the power spectrum is fun.

I think what really struck me was the freedom of choice and how well the devs have covered all the options. I'm talking detailed dialogue and story forks that delight and surprise on replaythroughs. Thought you knew that NPC well? well, be a bit more evil or subby the next run and see how they are? then. Its really fun to see you make choices that alter real attitudes and reactions. One of my favorite moments was getting the backing of a character I wasn't trying to get, and finding out a ton of story info I didn't know. It's also fun learning more about the world little by little. Even the primary location of the game is kinda a surprise>

Models are very well done, and I'll be honest, while some of the super hardcore dom scenes had me wincing, they are incredibly creative. Devs gotta be into the scene IRl somehow, because I don't know how they got this inspired otherwise.

All in all, definiatly worth a play even if it isn't you cup of tea. Looking forward to the future.

this game deserves more attention. the branching choices and narrative are really impressive, and the story really gripped me. visuals are not the best, but this is very much overshadowed by the excellent story and characters

This game is the first game on this site to make me physically sick to my stomach. Not saying that's bad. If that's your thing you might like it, but on to my review.

The paths in this game are set up in a way it's almost impossible to know where you are going with whatever kink you at trying to pursue.

The Story - Very overwritten. Things could be said in many fewer words than what they are. No where is this shown more than in the choices. They are long and confusing.

The Visuals - The lights seem far too dim for my taste much of the time. Just very flat looking, that's the best way I can describe the images.

Gameplay - This goes with what I said earlier, it's just very hard to follow the path you're after. I have no idea what one would do to figure this out. There is a walkthrough, but it doesn't help much.

Even on the dom path (if that's what I was on, I think so) I didn't feel at all dominant. Without spoiling the story too much you're basically in a prison of sorts and the women are by far the supreme beings within this setting. Maybe this will change later in the game, I don't know.

Overall, not my cup of tea. YMMV, but there is just much more going on than what needs to be. It's spectacle for the sake of being spectacle.

You can't avoid being dominated and humiliated, yes, it's been warned about, but it's definitely not fair for a game with multiple selectable paths to push you on such a mandatory path. And yes, although it is the first, a lot of effort has been put into the game. I appreciate it, but I don't like being manipulated "inevitably". In a multi-track game, there had to be a "truly traditional" route as well. Believe me when I say this, you need a path that will keep you at a controlled distance from the dark side. because there is no play with darkness. You should approach the darkness only to know it, not to become its slave.

BSDM, female domination, humiliation.
Dont go away just yet.
This game isnt about being a sub foot-licking worthless trash slave.
It probably has it too but i havent checked it yet.

I like it a lot. The story. The characters. It has an opressive vibe.
It´s very different from what we usually get around here.

Very recommended.

Great story, and there's so much content it really feels like each game "day" is an actual day. Only problem is I've been neglecting reality and have forgotten how to exist outside of the Karlsson facility.

Loved your work so far, some of the scenes in did cause nightmares for me but that's fine because it means the art and storytelling was good enough to affect my sub-concious. Hope your game gets its due recognition and eagerly awaiting future updates.

A quantitative, highly political work of art, which despite its flaws will almost certainly show you a good time.

The good:
The scope and breadth of the work are amazing. The developer thinks *big* and delivers. Compelling story-arch, which is based around an exploration of contemporary class warfare, and surprisingly has a lot to say on the subject. A cast of characters that, despite its size, manages to be vibrant and individual, and last but not at all least... SO. MUCH. CONTENT. This is one of the few games that strive for a "your choices matter" style of game play, and achieves it. As you play though, you will find yourself carefully considering your choices. I also appreciated the creativity of the various "challenges" you're presented with as a k4. You can say a lot about this game, but you can't say the developer is phoning it in.

The bad:
There are two big problems with this game for me.

The first is the lack of narrative voice. Many reviews praise the writing, but what I think they're describing is the story-arch which is very good. Mechanically however, there is no narrator, and hence no descriptive text whatsoever. When there is text on the screen, that text is dialog, so what would typically be descriptive text, is just wedged into the dialog, which often makes it awkward and verbose. Characters are constantly explaining themselves to you, vocalizing things people wouldn't vocalize naturally, and really just jibber-jabbering for paragraphs where maybe a single line of narration paired with a graphic could have set the scene.

The second, and this is admittedly subjective and can't really be fixed given the design of the project, but the game subconsciously aligns competency with dominance, which doesn't really allow for the existence of a diligent and capable submissive (eg.. the best kind). If you want to play the sub story-line, then you need to play the roll of a hapless fuck-up, or you will be promoted to k5 and become a dominant. I completely understand the game-mechanics involved, as well as the scope of the project trying to have storyline progression for both sides, but this also felt political and non-sequitur to me -- if you are a skillful, adept sort of person, then, you must enjoy owning slaves. If you don't enjoy slave ownership, then you must be inept and stupid.

All that having been said, it's a great game, highly recommend.

Excellent game, i absolutely love it because there is an awesome story, your choices really matters, renders are really well done.

If you enjoy being submissive this game is 100% for you, but even if you are like me and you absolutely hate female domination and enjoy being dominant this game is still for you, i really mean it!

Charaters and model are top notch.

I love the feeling of slowly and carefully raising to power in a "dangerous" and difficult enviroment, making allies, analyzing every situation and raising through the ranks, i feel like my character progresses and becomes more experienced!

You can play good or evil, submissive or dominant.
One of the very few games where a kiss meant a lot for me as a player. (There is plenty of lewd stuff, everything is well dosed i would say)

Easiest 5/5 stars for me.

Great game, many choices that actually make a difference and visually amazing. would recommend playing yhrough deveral times and making different choices as it changes what happens. Rally looking forward to episode 7. definately a game to keep an eye on

Whoa, whoa, whoa - this is probably my new favorite VN!!!
I generally avoid VN's until they get pretty far along and close to completion, because it is too torturous to play a chapter, then wait 3-4+ months for the next chapter/update and so on and so on. Many of these VN's progress along for years. I am more of a - read a book cover to cover, or serial watch a whole season of a TV show in one sitting kind of person.
While I certainly would not say this VN is really early on in development - it was started over 2 years ago and there is a shitload of content, and that is even if you do just 1 playthrough; if you want to do multiple playthroughs you can keep yourself entertained for days. However I also definitely don't feel like this VN isn't in the later stages of its development. There is still a TON of unanswered questions and story to unfold.

These are the kind of gems I am always hoping to find on F95 - a great story you can immerse yourself in, beautiful LI's and not too much porn world logic. Obviously almost all adult VN's are going to have some degree of porn logic, but for me they just need to pass as somewhat plausible and I am not continuously rolling my eyes and thinking 'bullshit, even in a fictitious world these scenarios are totally unrealistic'. Now I get that the environment the MC lives in isn't exactly 'plausible', if compared to the real world. But the events and interactions are somewhat plausible in the dystopian environment the dev has created.

What surprised me the most of this VN is - the genres portrayed arent even genres that I am generally all that into. I typically prefer the more romantic type genres (harem, hotwife, incest, etc).
It's not that I specifically dislike the more dark/abusive type genres (femdom, BDSM, ntr/cuck, etc). It's just that, as I said - I am usually more into the romantic genres and abusive genres are on the opposite end of the spectrum. Then on top of that most dev's portray an extreme version of the genre.
Don't get me wrong - this VN is definitely not a mild portrayal of abusive genres. I mean most of the women in this VN are extremely extreme - they love to torture others and even get off on straight up killing people. Most of the women are pure evil.
But that is what makes this VN so interesting to me - the MC can remain good despite this brutal environment he lives in, or he can go the evil route and embrace this hellish world. He can go from the lowest on the food chain, to being the alpha among alphas. Or you can purposely make the MC be everyone's punching bag and human toilet.
The dev really gives you the option of taking the story in any direction you want.

Now the key is - can the dev keep up this amazing work. Or will she drive this VN off a cliff like so many other VN's? There have been so many VN's that I absolutely loved early on, then somewhere along the way they just went to total shit.

This dev is psychotic for sure. Jk. Pretty good story. Pretty good CG. Characters looked pretty as well. There was so many branching in the story so that's cool, you could replay for getting different routes/scenes. For that reason you will miss many sex scenes and you gotta replay with diff choices which I never do(prefer a gallery mod). Not a fan of the female protagonist, I find it quite unnecessary and one thing I disliked most about this game. But that's just me.

I personally didn't enjoy this game much or didn't wanted to jerk off either because rape, slavery or extreme femdom games are not my type and they never give me a boner or pleasure. Getting dominated by a girl is pretty cool but having forced sex while another dude or girl getting tortured to death infront of me and making me watch that is disgusting and blueballing IYKWIM. But those who enjoy extreme femdom, rape, slavery and torture stuff will enjoy this very much.

Rating this a 6.8/10.