VN - Ren'Py - Karlsson's Gambit [v0.8.2 Test] [Grym Gudinna Games]

  1. 5.00 star(s)

    lost1979

    This game is very complicated and sophisticated. The plot is so deep that it hasn't fully disclosed in EP5. It is planned carefully from the beginning.

    This is a true multiple protagonist game. The choices of male MC Kane and female MC Olivia really matter and dynamically change the game flow and scenes.

    Kane's paths
    * Sub Path is about survival. You are setup to fail. Can you navigate it through?
    * Dom Path gives Kane more control. If you suddenly gain power, what type of person are you turning into?

    What make this game interesting is the possibility to combine and cross path between Kane and Olivia. It creates many combinations beyond most games offer.

    Graphic is excellent. Tess uses gesture and facial expression and facial expression to tell the story beyond words.

    In many games, the stories are twisted to make sense of NSFW scenes. What make KG different is the scenes are carefully crafted to fit into the main plot instead.

    I admire Tess’ creativity. There are so many scenes that I can repeat in my head even after finish playing.
  2. 5.00 star(s)

    Good Harvey

    The graphics are great. Worth noting that the costumes of the characters are beautiful and very elegant.

    The story of the game is fascinating. First of all, there are often some psychological dominations in the story. I like it! Secondly, the plot of this story has a suspenseful color.As I play, I always feel that someone will stab Oliva's knife behind her back.

    My favorite characters are Katsumi, Alessandra, and Juliette because they are very evil, very bitchy, and at the same time take pleasure in ruling the mind and body (especially the mind). So bitchy, and I have no resistance to such characters!

    Thank you, Tess! I will support you :)
  3. 5.00 star(s)

    SantsStudio

    Today it is very difficult to choose which soap opera to follow and the variety of stories is huge, but I must say I have a weakness for bdsm it gives a touch more of reality and of course cuts a little romance for something a little more raw
  4. 5.00 star(s)

    Choooogatta

    As of 0.5 update Karlsson's Gambit is my favorite storyline on this website and I'd rate it equal to professional mainstream RPG games in terms of character development and story pathing with decision trees. Specifically, it reminds me of KOTOR2 in terms of immersive storytelling.

    It's a game about power dynamics, family struggles and operating in a difficult world with incomplete information. Sort of a corporate mystery puzzle box featuring one crazy family living in the shadow of a dead man.

    There are three rough levels of reactions I have to 'mistakes' in plot on this website:

    -apathy, because I didn't expect much anyway.
    -disappointment, because I thought they had a better quality level.
    -paradigm shift because I trust the author's internal consistency.

    This game is on the third level.

    A note on the femdom/maledom tags. Karlsson's Gambit is not a game created in service to a specific fetish. It is a story about powerful ambitious people in a juiced up world of depravity and exploitation featuring plenty of both of the above tags.

    Good luck! Keep your head on your neck, and when you find out who the daughter is in the opening scene of the game send me a PM so I can find out too!
  5. 5.00 star(s)

    jkjkjkjkjk

    I was hesitant to play this game as this isn't my normal niche but I have found the game to be awesome with an amazing over arching story. Your choices actually matter in the game. It affects how you and others are treated and assuming where your character and other characters end up not just which beautiful women you will end up with. I can't wait to see what will happen and strongly recommend it even if it may not seem like your thing at first glance.
  6. 5.00 star(s)

    Chtulhu6969

    I am in awe over the storytelling in this game, a rare treasure.
    Having said that , the main tags of the game is actually something I have been avoiding . Until now that is, and I do not regret downloading and exploring the various paths. Great game ,fantastic renders and real solid storytelling!
  7. 5.00 star(s)

    realnumber

    Karlsson's Gambit is already a gem even without the bdsm content. I played the game to discover my deepest desire but end up hooked by the story itself.
    • Intriguing story, beautifully designed and rendered characters;
    • Well-planned structure, multiple paths/branches at each episode, and each might reveal a tip of the iceberg of the whole story.
    • A variety of great creative bdsm scenes. Though fetishes are very subjective, at least I have found my Elysium, and I hope you do too.
  8. 5.00 star(s)

    sickdude

    Review on patch 0.4

    So to begin with I played alot of femdom/bdsm games recently and have a good overview about the current games on F95Zone. Writing this review I didnt even playthrough all content available but I am already convinced that this game is an exceptional beautiful diamond in this genre!! There are soo many trash games (subjectively the rpgm games/hentai games) but this game was just soo enjoyable to play. The developer just knows the kinks of true subs/doms alike , its awesome!

    All in all you get:

    + pretty good/high quality renders
    + an intriguing story
    + hardcore femdom but you can lighten it up depending on your decisions
    + awesome unique characters (each with different kinks and level of bdsm)
    + nice setting
    +/- you get some nice ambient music but could be more in some scenes
    - I think the intro of the male MC was a little bit rushed and confusing in the beginning

    I really love this game and wanna see more of this! keep the good work up developer!

    PS: might have to rewrite some aspects when I played through the current patch
  9. 5.00 star(s)

    OnlyUsedForNever

    I just wanted to give my perspective as someone who HATES femdom.

    I fucking loved this game.

    Let's get the general stuff out of the way- absolutely top notch presentation. A huge cast of hot characters with very different styles and personalities, plenty of music and well posed scenes, and most importantly- AMAZING SETS. Jesus christ, these locations made my dick harder than any of the sadistic thots in this game. There's a huge, huge amount of choice in this game, with not just one, but three protagonists that all have unique stories, personalities that you can shape, and relationships with the rest of the cast.

    Now, for anyone who came here, like I did, because of the "male domination" tag, but didn't see how the hell that could work with a premise like this- it absolutely does. The thing I hate about most femdom games is that you're forced to play as some total loser cuckboy who just collapses the second a woman's toes make contact with his tiny dick. Fuck that. But in this game, you really are allowed to be a complete, dominant, takes no shit kind of hero/asshole who is struggling against a broken and unfair universe.

    It feels extremely rewarding to navigate the correct set of choices to avoid being treated like shit- and you can avoid almost all femdom content if you play right. Hell, by the end of the game, I basically felt like I was playing your typical BaD style harem game, and it was so much more satisfying because you have to work your way up to it (just with way more complex writing).

    There aren't too many sex scenes if you play as a dom so far (although there are a few), but if you're into the idea of being a dom more than the actual sexual act, then you'll enjoy this very much. However, if you just want to fap to some maledom porn, then you're probably better served elsewhere.

    With that in mind, and the control over three different characters, it can at times feel like you're just playing a really well written game-of-thrones esque VN (last seasons aside), trying to help this family weave through this world of psychopaths with their morals intact (or not). I didn't even give a shit about the porn anymore, the story, characters, and setting are just that engaging.
  10. 5.00 star(s)

    blackman6969

    Brilliant game.
    Lots of Femdom, but there are paths were the MC is dominant too.
    Beautiful renders and choices that actually make a difference.
    Multiple paths present, and a good amount of content present.
    Can't wait to see how this progresses!
  11. 5.00 star(s)

    FinrayB

    Well put together, great story and choices galore. If your into any of the themes then I highly recommend it. The animation and writing is top notch for this type of game. I don't know what else I can say that other fans have not.....I love it and hope it continues into a full long meaningful gaming experience .
  12. 5.00 star(s)

    AnonOnline

    Wonderful game in which you play a male protagonist in a dystopian world. It gives the player the option of shaping the narrative and gameplay around how they like it. Want to be used and abused? You can! Want to be dominant? You can! I love games like this which are choice driven and have dystopian settings.
  13. 3.00 star(s)

    Remor

    If you're into femdom this game is basically perfect. It's certainly a unique experience in terms of AVNs. I like that it has multiple paths and that the MC can be a dom in a world that treat men like garbage. The premise is interesting and so far choices seem to matter. I can't complain about the renders like others have before. I think they are good, and the models all look unique to a certain extent.

    As someone who is not into femdom this game was still fun to play. The overall story is intriguing, but I have a really hard time sympathizing with any of the characters. Every single girl is either sadistic, evil or straight up a psychopath. There is some extreme cruelty in this game. I don't particularly mind it since the world is set up this way, but it gets very one dimensional and almost tacky the more you progress in the story. Some more nuance here in the future can help freshen up things.

    The dialogue also suffers at times with a little too much exposition making some interactions feel robotic. Some scenes are also overly bloated in terms of dialogue on mundane things that don't really progress the plot. I appreciate the dual protagonists and that you can shape both of them based on choices, but so far I feel that this design choice slows the story progression a bit too much for my liking.

    All in all it's a well developed game and I recommend trying it. If femdom is your kink then this game is a 4 star experience, but as it's not really a fetish of mine, I can't give this game more than 3 stars.
  14. 5.00 star(s)

    Fapposaurus Rex

    Okay so at first this game had me feel like it was gonna be kinda meh, the jokes were kinda bad at first and it seemed to try and be a little too much at times all those worries kinda stopped once MC actually leaves prison for what the description of the game describes as "a special inmate rehabilitation program".

    And I felt the game would offer me next to no Maledom (which i prefer) and instead focussed on Femdom (which it does) it still managed to make you have control over the amount of Femdom you're actually exposed to so if you're into Maledom you can expect this game to deliver on that in future updates.

    As of right now I'd say in the sex scenes there is not really any powerplay if you decide to go the dominant route but like I said I expect that to change over the coming updates.

    As for choices I think this game is one of the best games out there, whilst I wish the game wouldn't remind me about having to "please someone to get what you want" all the time (which I'd prefer finding out on my own or having that been told to me once) I do really enjoy having to think for a second what the possible short term AND long term outcomes it would result in.

    I'd say the game offers about 8 hours of gameplay if you take as long as me and about 3-4 if you rush through it as it stands now.

    but i'm for sure gonna keep my eyes out for this one.
    Likes: Me666
  15. 5.00 star(s)

    Archspect

    This game is one of most enjoyable game i have ever played. This was a very interesting and unique experience to me. The renders are top notch. I loved the three protagonist dynamic, very cool implementation ı didn't seen in any other games. I loved each and every one of the characters very much. Thanks for the game. Good luck to dev or devs.
    5/5
  16. 5.00 star(s)

    freval

    It's a little annoying that they turns us into a dom but, this game is by far the most enjoyable game i have ever played, plot and crafting masterpiece.
    it's almost like a movie that is exciting and the fetish elements are gorgeous and in place, I wouldn't say no to them being a little bit more, but if they didn't force us to be doms
  17. 4.00 star(s)

    Anon4990

    I'd like to give my 2 cents on a very particular perspective I haven't seen anyone else mentioning yet.

    I'm male and a Dom and more than anyone else I'd have every single reason to put this game on ignore without thinking twice but I ended up deciding to give it a try in the end after reading some positive comments praising its story building in another thread

    Now I'm glad I did so because this was a very interesting and unique experience to me to say the least:

    There is this one singular route where you basically tapdance over 10 laser-beans in a whole universe whose only purpose is to make the male MC its bitch both literally and figuratively and it was very refreshing to see that not only it can actually be done if you choose intelligently but it was also built in such a way that it makes sense in the context of the lore with the whole "rare worthy male" concept going on and I can't stress it enough that this path would most probably not even be necessary for the purpose of satisfying the vast majority of the demographics this game focuses on, but Tess decided to include it anyway.

    The male MC can never hope to become a proper Dom in this universe but the fact that he *can* act in such a way to resist such crushing pressure without getting abused or demeaned adds a lot to the quality of this game and the challenge becomes all the more meaningful because of it, as does the enjoyment of those few that, like me, are not much into the core fetish this game caters
  18. 5.00 star(s)

    TakeshiKimura

    Incredible game.
    The story is intriguing, the choices are presented in a very descriptive, clear manner, and the characters are enjoyable. I love the three protagonist dynamic, very cool implementation not seen in too many games. I hope to see more of the brother, but the protagonist and his sister are more than enough to drive this wonderful story. The music is also very good, and well implemented given any particular scene. I'm looking forward to seeing where my choices will drive the story, because there are quite a few directions. I'm impressed that the creator is able to maintain quality storytelling with the different branches.
    Lastly, Alessandra is my queen. I might be wrong, because hey I'm not the creator, but I think she's the true power player in all this, and I intend to do everything in my power to make sure she realizes her ambitions. Please keep up this wonderful game :)
  19. 5.00 star(s)

    onepoopyboi

    This review contains a bit of spoilers
    Okay so first of all this game is one of the best games I have played on this site.
    It has so much potential and the dev has put so much work building each route and the implementing the consequences of your choices so hats off to dev for that.
    This game is heavily based femdom, if you don't like that then stay away. With that being said there are choices in which you can avoid femdom but not completely.
    I ,personally, love femdom so I love this game. I love soft femdom , pegging and maybe humiliation
    Although some routes contain hardcore femdom and degradation which is not for me. So I took the route where you become K6.
    The renders are top notch no complaints about that.
    As for the Mistresses , every girl has her own unique charm however Patricia ,Chanel, Olivia(MC's sister) and Veronica seem really great . I hope there would be a love route or maybe a softdom type slave route with them.
    The story is quite big and intriguing , its hard to see such a good plot now a days .
    I am quite forward to play the new updates.

    To sum it up -
    Story - 9.5/10
    Renders - 9/10
    Mistresses/Girls - 10/10

    Overall - 9.5/10
  20. 2.00 star(s)

    1st

    While this VN is not a drastic failure, it delivers a very specific content that not everyone will find appealing (it's 100% fetish oriented).

    First of all, I don't like the way choices are being presented - honestly, it's just riddiculous: big walls of text covering whole screen which reminds old text-based games.
    Secondly, I couldn't help but feel that game has more text content then visual one.

    Personally I got bored very quickly, therefore it's hard for me to recommend this VN.