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

I must admit I'm giving this game four stars even though I dropped it by the time you get to the facility. Reason for that is simple, it is a good game without question on my part, but I didn't connect with it enough. Not because of the dom/sub/bdsm stuff, I can handle those and I admit I think the dom path was interesting even in such a femdom universe. But the main problem I have with it is the pacing, there are just too many characters from the beginning, too many side scenes and so on, that make the story lose all the pace and the connection to the MC as you swap through all the side ones; and as those gain in importance, even more time away from the MC. I get what the author wants to do with it and I think she does so in a pretty decent way, but for river-novels (as JR Martin calls them) it's not enough to do it in a decent way but for me it has to be a great way (btw, didn't like GoT so he didn't do it better IMO). So, such long times between things I find interesting and relevant eventually took me out of the story completely.

Render quality is good, even though it's not amazing; sex scenes, the ones I saw, are decent but animations are a bit stiff and basic. Music and sound have little presence. And I found no bugs during my playthrough which is always great.

So, all in all, it's a good game and it might be worth your time if you are interested in the topics it covers and like stories with lots o characters and moving from one to another continuously.

(Version Reviewed: v0.7a Final)

Karlsson's Gambit is a great game. I have only played the Dom/Good route, so I'm not sure how reliable my opinion on the game would be.

The premise is very unique and filled with many intriguing scenarios. The plot is entertaining. Some of the main characters have been well fleshed out. I especially enjoy reading Veronica and Kiyomi's scenes. The renders look good and animations are smooth. The lewd scenes are very kinky and fulfill my most depraved fantasies. The game's choices make me think about the various issues that MC would face before I take one, it's quite a thought provoking game. The music is one-note, but it serves it purpose.

Overall I would rate it at 9.5/10. The only reason that I wouldn't consider it 10/10 is that the renders can be better.

Excellent game. I would recommend it to all players who enjoy Dom-Good routes. Good luck to the dev! I will be awaiting the next update eagerly.

I had planned on a lengthy review, but I think I will keep it short. The game has a terrible introduction. You get barely any time with your main protagonist and it starts jumping from one character to another and we don't really care about any of those characters. This brings me to my second point. There are no likeable characters here, they're all psychopaths. But don't get confused. These aren't like your typical cute yanderes that you'd see in a manga. These are actual psychopaths with nothing to like about them.

They're supposed to be these super smart powerful people but you are told that. You are only ever shown how they abuse their power nor how they got to the top or why. Obviously because they were simply born in it. You will also have to kiss ass to rich assholes with any of the 3 protagonists. Quite boring, honestly. I didn't finish all the content, but I was already bored with the game. It seems my choices led to the "dom" route, but there was a sizable portion of the game without any hot scenes at all. So, even if you're in this for the sex, then I'd recommend to look elsewhere.

Many of the scenes are just absolutely ridiculous and it's hard not to cringe. You have to be real cringe if you want the sister to get "dom" or "evil" points. Her, like most of the characters are just evil cartoony villains. Hard pass for me.

First of all, I only play femdom games. This one was recommended to me years ago, and it's fairly decent, with a huge fan base. But if I were to share my honest opinion on it...

1. What ruins this game for me is that it forces you to play two characters - the male protagonist, and... the female domme, Olivia. It's utterly ridiculous, it's like playing with dolls, I have no idea how anyone can appreciate it.

2. Apparently, there are different paths in the game which can only be accessed via mods. As I have no idea how to install said mods, I cannot experience the game at all, as the choices necessary for those paths are overly convoluted.

3. The updates take something on the scale of fractions of years, and yet there's barely any progress to the story. Some random guys get tortured (not the protagonist), and there's an avalanche of words, characters talking through dozens of scenes... But that's it.

That's my honest opinion after playing for around 2 years at this point. As I have not seen this particular sentiment shared, I thought it could be of interest. 2/5 because the renders are good and femdom harsh, but they go nowhere.

Best game in this site. It may not be everyone's cup of tea because of the femdom and dark story. But it has a great plot with great renders.

5/5 for me and worth the time to play through all the paths.

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.