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

+ The characters and their renderings are well done
+ Unique, original and engaging story
+ Impressive, purposeful and non-stereotyped choices
+ The mysterious atmosphere of the game takes you to the depths of the dark and fascinating world of Femdom . A world made by the beautiful mind of a Mistress
+ Everything about this game is fantastic and it is a paradise for submissives that you can not find anywhere else.

I hope in the next updates we can see more of female protagonist storyline

+ Awesome, interesting characters and story
+ Not a single boring h-scene
+ The player chooses the scenes and the direction of the story to a fairly large degree
+ Very high writing quality

- A little short (6-8 hours)

Overall, I'm super impressed. Didn't have much in the way of expectations but the quality of everything blew me away.

I am not much of a reviewer and I usually don't write reviews as I suck in doing so. But after playing this game I had to write one. I am sure the themes presented in this game might not be everyone's cup of tea but I urge everyone to atleast give this game a try before you judge it by the tags and screenshots like most people do. The dev does give everyone a choice on how you want to play the game even if it is not super obvious. Where is the fun in clicking through a set of pictures if the story and choices are not engaging in a VN and this game gets it right, not super complicated also it is not a image slideshow. All I wanna say is give this game a try and you might be surprised. Thanks

Great girls and story, femdom isnt really my thing but you can go a domination route which is nice. one of my faves right now along with being a dik. Animation is solid. Elena is probably my favorite girl. Cant wait to see where this goes.

I have 3 main points about this game:

Firstly this is a sick game (in a good way) with an absolutely unique premise. The possible ideas for perverted scenarios is unlimited with just the prisoner premise alone, the sister plotline is just the icing on the cake. Now this plotline is not exactly for the squeamish..but if you can handle some themes of dom culture and violence then you will enjoy it even more.

Secondly this game subsists on its writing and plotting alone. What I love about it: brief but descriptive and often sadistic, since many of the characters are evil and twisted. So many choices even in the first two chapters as I write this that REALLY change the potential outcome. Right away as you begin the game you come to understand the universe of characters involved is massive but the game smartly does not throw everything at you at once. They introduce these characters in turn and they do so with their actions and not a million lines of exposition..THANK YOU FOR THIS. This is why as the player you will remain invested despite the confusing backstory..you just need to know it on a basic level, it's not central to understanding what's going on.

Finally I wouldn't say this is a criticism exactly since this is still 5 stars, but the visuals for this game are the weakest point. The scenarios and the lewd scenarios are amazing, unique. The renders..are fine and get the point across. I'm not an expert but I would just say that I don't find them particularly high quality. This is a damn grim story and dark, violent things are happening. In my mind the tone that the images given in a dark game like this require attention to the visuals. In my non-expert opinion: for some of the scenes of tension the lighting has to be darker..the mood has to be desperate and somber..a lot of these scenes have insane things happening but it's just the same high contrast, well lit environments as the other scenes. Again it's not bad but I would say it's about average, and given the quality of everything else this is the weakpoint.

Excellent story and engaging characters. Male Dom is a big part to this game, but with wise choices you can avoid most of that for the MC. I'm not a fan of Male Dom myself, yet there was still plenty here to enjoy. I'm looking forward to having the MC join in the fun and learn more about what's going on along the way. Kudos to the Dev for her vision and efforts in this game!

I must start by saying, Femdom is not one of my favorite kinks, and this game has mostly that. That being said, the game is simply a work of art.
The story is absolutely amazing. The writing is top level and it will keep you engaged every single second... 6/5 rating
The renders are good, but the first chapter can do with a few reworks 4/5 rating
I love the fact that you have real choices about how you want to shape your character as well as your relationships, mainly because of the Femdom story, which may be off-putting to some.
I tried to keep an open mind about the game and I'm so happy I did.
I wouldn't want to have missed the story because of my personal preferences.
Definitely a Developer to follow and support.
(if she has the talent to write a story like this, imagine what she can do with a little more financial support )
Peace V

I really enjoyed this game so far (chapter 2). The women are all absolutely gorgeous - especially Samantha Man is this story dark though. I guess I'm fucked up because I enjoyed every second of it. I'm not sure femdom is a kink I'm particularly into but the story kept me playing to see what sort of twisted shit would happen next. I'll do another play-through as a dom to see how that turns out.

Thank you Dev for an absolute gem!

Downloaded this gem at Chapter 2 Final, and it is an amazing offering. If you love a choice driven story with multiple possible outcomes then this one is sure to please.
The backdrop of the story is a bit far fetched, and certainly dystopian. So the mood has a distinct edge and darkness,and you can feel that throughout.
The cast of characters are diverse, with wildly varying personalities and motivations. Fortunately all the women are beautiful, at least on the outside.
The artwork is nicely done.
The story is clean and the writing is well done as well. The mystery of what is going on and who is trying to do what is quite delicious.
Very much worth a try. But not for the weak of heart.

Promising Game, excelent and a very original history, it remembers me a little bit of The Purge though, but i have never ever seen it in a erotic game, interesting characters, and it's good that you can choice if you want to be more domiant or submissive, because if it was only femdom it would be a completely turn down for me.

Karlsson's Gambit
Review, as of v0.2bb:

This is written as someone who sits on the periphery of enjoying femdom, who has a keen interest in the themes and characters of the genre, and less of a sexual interest.

Pros

• First and foremost, the atmosphere. This is where Karlsson's Gambit excels. The world is drab and the characters range from coldly calculating to unrepentantly vicious, with a credibility of tone for what is an otherwise incredible setting.
• Next, the intrigue. The titular Karlsson's Gambit, and the question of the what and how the protagonist and his family fits into it, is a mystery with many pieces involved.
• Choices that make you work for it. Choices are presented in a compelling, dramatic, and sometimes even obfuscated fashion that encourages the player to think through their logical outcomes. The protagonist's test in episode 2 is just so, so, SO tightly designed from a point perspective.
• The presentation of sound. Deliberate care has been put into the music and SFX, all of which is appropriate and never distracting.
• A story told from multiple perspectives, with multiple protagonists. This is one of the really stand out things for me and a testament to the game dev's imagination. The way brother(s) and sister are placed within the story, woefully apart from one another and faced with their own challenges, is a compelling plot device that gets you thinking about the eventual intersection of the choices you make as all two/three characters.
• The cruelty. The game pulls no punches about what it is and what it shows and I admire that.
• Pat and Sam, the two prison guards. I just really like them!

Neutral

• The lack of a textbox means there's a spot or two where text can be hard to read.

Cons

• Graphical limitations.

All in all, this is one if not the only game in development on f95 that actually has me pulled in irrespective of the smut - which I might add, is also pretty good! Two versions in and I'm fully invested in the mystery and looking forward to seeing the interplay between the Karlsson daughters unfold.

There is not a lot I can say about this game that has not already been said in reviews or in the thread. If you know me, I very much like developers who aren't afraid to take a chance. Someone who is willing to write what they are passionate about, as opposed to what might sell better. This is on full display in Karlsson's Gambit. Tess is fearless in her approach to the narrative and is cognizant of the minutia of every aspect of the game. From how she wants the renders to look, to subtle plot twists and more. This does not look, sound or feel like the work of a first time developer, but rather a seasoned one. I believe her passion for this project is unrivaled by anyone else I have encountered in game development. You know this is her baby and she is going to take care of it, and shape it how she pleases, in an unapologetic and uncompromising manner. The content of this game will probably make it so it will never be on the first page of the trending list. However, that doesn't mean it's quality is not deserving of it. I can't say enough about the developer and the game itself. It, and she are just simply uncompromising, and that is always the touchstone of great art. If you haven't played this gem. Please give it a try with an open mind, and willingness to discover something that is not average, but extraordinary.

Also, what an amazing job, Tess! The writing is on par with some of the best on here. It's complex enough to invoke heavy thought, but not over the top. Characters look amazing, especially considering the limitations you mentioned due to your hardware. As for story, I was immediately pulled in, to the extent that I really thought about each decision and choice I made. The story remains interesting and there always seems to be an ominous atmosphere that makes me doubly careful about my choices.
If you can maintain this level of quality, I can safely say this may be one of the best games to date that I have played here at F95. Great job!!

Like all the other reviews on here I am singing my praises with this superb fem-dom game. I played the first version when it came out a couple of months ago, but wanted to hold off rating it until another update had come out. First of all what makes this so impressive of being the dev's first is that they had no experience of coding etc. This is something they have learned as they have gone through and even though they do get some help with this game, a lot of it is on them.

It's a testament that the rendering is superb. From the characters themselves (the different women look gorgeous and are unique models that I haven't seen used in any other games I've played) to the environments they are in. It is of extremely high quality and that is impressive for a first time developer.

Even though women mainly dominate in this. You actually get the option to have the male MC dominate and even for his sister to act submissive. There is a wonderful mixture of choice as you play these two different MC's. You can choose to be either a dom or sub, good or evil, neutral or a mixture of them all. This determines how your character's journey will go as well as relationships with other characters (who all have interesting qualities) where you will eventually be able to engage romantically with them, be a sub to them or dominate them. You will in later updates be able to get single partners or even harems by the end.

This gives you the advantage of tailoring the MC's to your liking and does give the great flavour of high replayability. I have already gone through this game on the sub and dom routes, which gives you the choice to be extreme in the kinks or punishments or lighter. I enjoyed both routes, mainly loved making the sister a dom and the male submissive as there is a lovely moderation of feet/foot fetishism which fits wonderfully with the fem-dom in this game. So the kinks/fetishes in this are right up my alley.

The story itself is really interesting and complex with some hints of what's happening, but that you can't figure out just yet. The main two characters you play and the others get a nice balanced amount of time in these updates as the pacing and build up is perfect. The dialogue itself is really well written and feels natural when reading it from these characters with very few grammatical mistakes. I also really like the variety of music, which fits well within the scenes of the game of whatever situation is unfolding.

I can't praise this game and the dev highly enough and am currently supporting them on patreon. The time between updates so far has been pretty great with a decent amount of content for both chapters. I will definitely be continuing on with this in the next update as I loved every minute of playing it. I highly recommend playing this amazing game!

I can say with confidence that this game is a contender for being one of the best female domination games out there. It is a rare combination of diligent and free-thinking creativity with beautiful and awe-inspiring rendering. However simple or extreme you're looking for your femdom experience to be, it can be (or will be soon) catered to you in this game.

This is a great visual novel. The game is mostly femdom, but it also has some paths for the main character to try to be more dominant which I appreciate because I want that option too. I also love that you can mostly avoid the worst femdom like the box scene. On my dom play, my character hasn't had to do anything too bad yet. But you will see some femdom with other characters too, the sister character is very interesting to me and I enjoy playing her which surprises me.

I know I am probably missing a lot of content since there are a lot of choices and I know I missed some sub content for sure. Highly recommend!

i should be mentioned in the start that i personaly allways view and rate all dom content, from the perspective of the dom. doesnt matter if its male or female dom/sub so keep that in mind when reading my review.

First of all, this is by far the best game of its genre, nothing even comes close. IF you like domination and/or humiliation from any perspective this game is for you. however if you are turned off by that, run away, there is so much forced scenes with domination, humiliation and crualty that even the smashing story(atleast so far) cant out weight it.

if however you are enjoying extreme content, you cant go wrong here. there are so many levels to the choices in this game, ranging from torture murder, to light spankings. now i personaly enjoy the very extreme content, not because i want to truely hurt someone, but because this game is a piece of entertaintment and no choices have real consequnces..but i have allso sampled the less extreme content and it is of equal quality.

The renders in the game are very high quality and sometimes they are some of the best, in any adult game i have ever played.. i am particular fond of Elena who i think have the best facial expressions, in some of her scenes, that i have ever seen. who ever modeled and rendered her is a fucking genious.
the story is very mysterious and at the time of writing (0.2) we dont really know anything, we have hints about the true plot but very little have been revealed so far..the story is very compelling though and very well done with tons of twists and turns as each main character have their own agenda. i would rate the story from what i have seen so far, as one of the best in any VN game. ofcause its early days and it may turn out the story sucks further on, allthough with the care given to the first two chapters i very much doubt that.

the game doesnt have voices or much sound..i think it would enhance the game quite alot with voices and sounds but that is not really a problem for the game, only something that would enhance it..
the only real thing i can say against this game is that it seem to have quite a few forced scenes that has some pretty extreme content i cant say with 100% cirtainly because i do tend to make extrme choices, so maybe the lighter choices will not lead to these forced scenes..but all the most severe content have so far as i can tell allways been optional.

but that is the only thing i can list as a con...The english is good, the writing is good, the spelling is good, not a single bug for me so far and the renders are high quaility. add (good)voices and it could be the best VN ever.

I'm really looking forward to where this game goes next, the renders are not quite pure S tier like a very few other games but they are really good. The writing and world is kind of what sells for me, I am really into the story and want to see what happens next and a few of the girls are really great characters already to me! It seems similar but different to Darktoz type stuff with a dystopian world. I don't need any maledom at all but I guess it's good to have a little variety.

Wow this game has so much potential! Already you can see how choices matter and you have several different variables that will change the story. I highly recommend playing through it multiple times with different options selected.

I LOVE the harsh and extreme content and this game has it in spades! The girls are beautiful and have clear personalities. Didn't encounter any bugs and the world itself is very fleshed out. 10/10 for a first release, this game is one to stay on top of!

A game with a mysterious storyline that shows a lot of promise: intrigue, power, conflict, and mistresses having their way with submissive males. What's not to like? Personally, I'm just as curious to see what the dev will do with the plot as I am to see what the female characters will do with the male ones.

EDIT: After seeing chapter 2, I had to change my rating from 4 to 5 stars. The author is showing talent at handling complex situations and characters, and the more I see of the game the more I want to see. It looks like a through work of love, something I always saw as a joy to behold, alas too rare in today's world. I wish the author the best of luck with this endeavor, which shows true promise of becoming something quite special.