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

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.

5/5

I am a dominant male and I usually prefer to use male protagonists in general, but in this game where femdom predominates, I have found gratification in all the aspects it has brought in the different lines I have tried, Dom path basically. I'll probably try the Sub path, even if I can't relate to the protagonist and abstract myself to be a mere spectator. I feel it will be worth it too.

As a vocational photographer, though not too experienced, I loved the implementation of different planes of view during the reading and how easy to read the characters are (about what they think or feel). Perhaps too obvious, being very honest with their body language, but very much appreciated for the overall experience of the game.

As an amateur writer, I love the richness of the narrative because of the different paths and variables it contains. It's inspired me to write an erotic novel of my own hahaha I've only done short stories, but this has given me some pretty interesting ideas to work with....

As a Dom, simply rewarding experience. Just mentioning that the inspiration won't just stay on paper. That short, that clear.

As an architecture student, I quite enjoyed the design of the scenarios. It made me want to work for the firm someday hahaha The first time I played it, recently, it made me laugh a lot with the part where they mention the quality of the interior design, since before that I had made myself a couple of sketches of places I liked and was about to start with the bathroom one.... A few tears of laughter came to my eyes. :'D I also loved the bathroom.

All in all, a great game and looking forward to seeing more. I can't help financially yet, but along with DrPinkCake and Evakiss, you've become someone I'd like to help when it's affordable for me, but even collaborate in the future if circumstances allow.

A kiss and a hug~

I have mixed feelings about this one. Let's start with the positive.

Positive

The models and the story are excellent. The renders in the first chapters are not great, but they get better as the chapters go on. Also, the animations are decent. Only the last chapter (chapter 6) has animations and in my only play-through of full dom with the redhead (I forgot her name) as a sponsor, I saw maybe 3? I'm not going to remove a star though because the sub and different sponsors paths may have more animations.

Negative

The choices. They are very, and I mean VERY confusing. I usually don't use mods on my first play-through but here it's NEEDED. I played an hour without one, and I just gave up. I was lost. Now, even WITH the excellent walkthrough mod from Sancho, I was still getting lost from time to time. A couple of variables don't have a purpose, while others don't make sense. Lastly, some choices have so much text that it just makes everything even more confusing.

Conclusion

I had fun, that's all that matters. In my eyes, it definitely deserves 4 stars. Lost one because of the choices. Your mileage may vary of course depending on your fetishes but from my play-through, it's an easy recommendation.

This one is...tough to judge. On one hand there is a lot of things that could be appealing on the other there is a lot of things that didn't appeal to me.

Sex scenes were good and there is a few standout characters who I really liked. Render quality isn't bad at all, there are a lot of nice looking ladies.

There are a ton of characters and you play as 2 of them going at a game from radically different paths. Admittedly femdom and most female protag games aren't my thing at all and that's a major theme but I wanted to give it a fair shot because of the good ratings.

Even with a walkthrough mod I found myself super confused on who was who and what was going on. This is one of those games where because their are so many choices there are potentially a whole lot of landmines and I definitely ran into a few that had me considering starting over or just getting rid of the game, I chose the latter because I absolutely hate having to navigate minefields to avoid seeing content I don't want to see. Especially when there are a ton of choices with very long reaching consequences and so many variables.

It certainly earns stars for effort and I may try it again when it's condensed into one download but for now all I can say is your mileage may vary depending on how much you love choices, taste for the tags, and ability to keep track of a lot of different narratives.

This is a FANTASTIC game. The Dev has really done an outstanding job up to this point from what I can tell, but I'm new...

As far as graphics go: Probably the best I've seen amongst the many games I've played from this site. If you look at just the backgrounds, you will notice an incredible amount of detail and thought. The colors are all just insane. There doesn't seem to be any limit to the different shades, none of which seem too dark or washed out. They are perfect. You can also just sit there and be amazed at the depth of the background details. It doesn't seem to be any simple cut and paste job either, it honestly looks like a lot of time went into each room/scene.

One thing that bothers me is when all the characters look the same, well in KG, I'm not sure I saw any that were plain/boring copy and paste. There's a great mixture of tall, short, skinny, even a couple chunky ones (sort of). They also seem to have a reason for looking different, if that make sense. They have been brought in from all over the world, not just some small town setting. At least that's the impression it gives.

Also, along the lines of characters, one particular thing that stands out is that each of them have their own personalities. Some are more ruthless while some aren't that bad. Sure it's most all slanted against males, but that's just how this story goes. You have to 'learn' each character so you will get an idea of whether or not to trust them, and what to trust them with, it seems. They also seem to hold a grudge so beware...

The story seems to be fantastic so far. There's a lot of it and it will keep you busy for quite awhile. The choices you make seem to have a huge difference on where your MC goes and how he's treated. You can try to be nice, strict, or down right sadistic. The choice is yours. You will spend time in many drastically different area, labs, dungeons, underwater, etc. And this are huge well developed scenes.
Much Much eye candy...

The writing and storytelling are first rate with very few mistakes. There doesn't seem to be any slang or phrases being used to death and each character has their own vernacular that's different but not so different to be weird. Heck, several characters are related to it's just the right amount of different but same to be family. The Dev seems to care and wants to be helpful so is active in the forums. They also seem to be humble while being sure to thank others for any and all help they get. This is also more of a first impression for me as I just started playing and digging through the forum. So far, however, it seems to
be a good and helpful group.

As far as game play goes so far. One interesting this is that you will make choices for a few different characters
which is kind of different for me. The MC has most of the decisions and things are focused on him 90% of the
time but it will switch to others, such as the sister or brother. I tend to vacillate a lot on choices and the
decisions you make seem to really affect the story. Most seem to be really difficult and could test your morals
quite a bit. This aint just another mindless type game. You have to keep track of this/that/and the other....

One of the top 5 best games on this site! Highly underrated game!

Pros

• Excellent renders, visuals, and environments
• Excellent character models overall
• Beautiful character models
• Excellent story
• Excellent writing
• NPCs have unique personalities and priorities
• Lots of lewd/sex scenes
• Good animations (chapter 6)

Cons

• The first 5 chapters don't have animations
• The animations in chapter 6 are too robotic - more body parts need to be moving to make it look like humans are having sex (humans don't move like statues)
• In the first 5 chapters, female breasts are nearly always shown with flat nipples. Even when not aroused, most females have nipples that stick out at least a little bit and are not level with the surface of the rest of the breast. This does get improved in chapter 6.
• A very common problem with rendered games is that they don't account for gravity with breasts. This game is no different. Breasts often stick straight out as if they were in a zero gravity environment. It looks very unnatural and results in some of the females appearing to have bad boob jobs.
• Another problem with the breasts is the unnatural position of the nipples and areola. They are positioned way too high on the breasts making it look like they had nipple/breast lifts. This adds to the problem of making their breasts look fake. Not all females have this issue however.
• The cast is too large! You are constantly introduced to new character after new character to the point where you forget about many of them. Instead of developing deep stories with the cast, you get bits and pieces from far too numerous new characters. This greatly hinders the development of deep relationships with all the character you meet in the game. The cast is so large that I've forgotten about most of the girls I've had sex with in the past because so much time has gone by before I interact with them again (not good). Character development suffers with most NPCs in the game as a result.
• The developer needs to add a strong warning in the OP about the nature of this game. The theme of the game is very evil with lots of slaves being treated like objects and treated inhumanely. You can avoid some of it but no matter what you choose you are led down a dark path with lots of human suffering. Not everyone is prepared for this type of game and it needs to come with a strong warning before players decide to download it.
• A walkthrough is basically required to succeed at this game. The majority of choices are unclear as to what you should choose. You basically have to get inside the head of the author and try to figure out what choice to make. Most of the choices involve a lot of grey area. It is often unclear what choice the player should make. This may be the intent but I frown on games that require a walkthrough and this game is basically that.
• Sex scenes are a bit lacking. The game emphasis is on the story which is excellent. The sex scenes could be longer with more passion. They always seem to be rushed (sorry your time is up).
• There are a few story problems with the game (mentioned below).

Story Problems

The MC is basically treated like a celebrity throughout the game. He is rarely forced to do anything he wouldn't do anyway. He is constantly handed girls to have sex with and is rarely made to do anything difficult. There are suppose to be three different areas that the MC is suppose to be trained in and the only focus is on the sex part.

Another problem is that the Karlsson sisters have special rules that they must follow when it comes to the MC (mentioned several times). It is mentioned multiple times that they won't fuck him until he has proven himself to them in a major way. Then Alessandra has a threesome with the MC and has vaginal sex with him. Immediately afterwards, Dominique tells Alessandra not to worry about her being alone with the MC because she won't have sex with him (hinting about the special rules they must follow with him). The threesome was great but it should have been with a different girl while Alessandra watched and masturbated to the three of them having sex. Otherwise, there needs to be major fallout for Alessandra fucking the MC so early and without fully proving himself to her.

It is a bit hard to swallow that your innocent sister is OK with basically becoming a slave master and doing lots of evil and inhumane things. There isn't much of a progression here. You have to accept that your sister has a strong evil side to her personality. She basically accepts treating slaves like objects and for her personal enjoyment. It's a bit hard to swallow honestly, even with the huge salary, benefits, and just doing it to try and protect her two brothers in the program. My imagination in accepting this premise is a bit too much for me. There are several times (if I were the sister) that I would have told them "no way" and to "fuck off!" (refusing the job).

Recommendations to the author

There isn't enough sibling rivalry. Most of the sisters have different goals from each other and there is a major power play going on between them. Also, some of the sisters have mentioned that they want the MC and his sister to succeed and a few of them have said that they don't. These factors never really come into play in all 6 chapters of the game. I'd like to see some good sabotages and sister conflicts/drama! The play for power is talked about a lot but rarely anything happens in this regard.

The great collapse is mentioned several times throughout the game and only minor details are given. It would be awesome to know more about the great collapse. When did it occur? How long ago? What caused it? What was life like after it? You could do a lot here with flashbacks to the past and answer these intriguing questions. Since the MC starts the game in jail we don't really know much about it or what life was like in the real world. Why is most of the earth's population living in Africa? Is the rest of the world uninhabitable? Lots of interesting questions that could add a lot to the story!

We still need to find out why the MC's best friend was targeted and unjustly jailed and put into the program. Was it to insure the MC's cooperation in case he resisted or is there some other nefarious reason?

Fix all the issues mentioned in the Cons.

Summary

The story and writing really sell this game! It is a story based visual novel with a good amount of choices that do have impact on the story.

Despite the cons and my complaints, the game is excellent overall! All the issues I mentioned don't detract too much from the enjoyable experience you will have with this game. I can tell that a lot of love and passion went into this project!

This game is highly underrated and deserves a lot more attention! It deserves a 5 star rating! The author did a brilliant job with this game!

I highly recommend this game (if you don't mind a dark and evil themed game) and encourage others to give it a try!

I am literally addicted to this game I have just completed my 3rd game. There are a lot of choices and choices do really effect the outcome, I was suprised that this game had such interactivity. I am about to start my 4rd game now everything about this game is just perfect.

Top 5 game on this site. As someone who doesn't like several of the tags (female protagonist, multiple protagonist, and femdom) it's still such a masterpiece. Very well written, a lot of choices and different paths to play. A developer who is engaged with the community and does their best to provide as much information as possible. You're doing yourself a disservice if you've never played this game, even if you're not a fan of Femdom like myself.

Personally, this is probably going to be my favorite game on this website(tied with Summer's Gone of course). I looove bdsm, but I'm not on this website for that lol. Now, to actually critique this game.

Karlsson's Gambit[v0.5B General]

Plot: 8/10 ~ One of the most unique plots on this site. Tess did a great job worldbuilding and forming a unique setting for this story to truly thrive. The plot almost immediately takes off, and once it gets moving, it never stops. One thing to note is that this also isn't an AVN that relies solely on its plot. Every character has varying degrees of internal conflict that all work in accordance with the external plot in very compelling ways. The Karlsson sisters display this perfectly whenever they're in a scene, especially Veronica and Dominique(hope I spelled that correctly).

Art: 7/10 ~ The art, while good, is nothing to really marvel at. The models serve their purpose by fitting well with each character's personality. Objectively, they are fairly good in the world of AVNs, but not outstanding.

Dialogue: 7/10 ~ The dialogue is good. It flows somewhat organically and it does a decent job of displaying character voice. Comparatively to other AVNs when it comes to dialogue, it's one of the better AVNs here on F95. There's not much here to really critique right now, as all flaws can be fixed with a bit of practice. Objectively, the dialogue in this game is quite good. It's not the best, but it's better than many I've seen here on F95.

Characters: 8/10 ~ Most characters within this novel are done quite well. In fact, the only characters one can really complain about, are the side characters that will most likely never make a reappearance. All main characters are kept consistent and interesting, pushing the story forward in their own ways. The Karlsson sisters are some of the more interesting characters I've come across on this site, and I must commend Tess for how she wrote them. Objectively, the characters are consistent and dynamic. In fact, almost all main characters have been shown to be dynamic to some extent. That in and of itself is a great trait to have amongst a cast in any story.

Overall: 9/10 ~ Objectively, this game is very good. Definitely not what I was expecting when I came to this site, but I am glad that I came across it. I think Tess did an awesome job here on this AVN, and I hope she keeps working on it. I'd recommend it, but despite my own favor towards it, this story is definitely not for everyone. Proceed with an open mind is really all I can say. It's a story that grows on you... so I'd suggest a lot of patience in the earlier stages. Good luck to anyone that tries it! If you ever see this, keep kicking ass Tessღ

It is my favourite game on here. It is kinky, writing is exquisite for both sub and dom paths. I especially love the dom path being about knowing how to pick your fights and when to submit in a female dominated organization. I love the power struggle, even the ones between the other characters. They add a lot to the game and the feeling of player having effect on who becomes the top dog even as a sub.

This game has amazing detail in writing and story. It is focussed on kinks over sex and does an amazing job at setting up the world around the player. It is both for DOMS AND SUBS. Especially realistic on how a new dom would enter the food chain and rise through the ranks.

Great renders and story. While some femdom games are over the top to teh point of being depressing, the hope of rising above the circumstances in this game makes the situation not seem as bleak. This game has an intriguing story that makes the various situations work together pretty well. The ability to control multiple members of the family is also a neat touch.

Great game! Keep up the good work.

Very thought out and well planned game with something for both dom, sub, good and evil players. Quite a few choices and flavours for players, good graphics. Do wish it gets strong maledom content down the road. 100% recommended.

Incredible game. Deep, layered, well-paced. Thought-provoking, which sounds bizarre. The fantasy setting is sold well enough, so you can buy the characters' actions without having to bypass logic altogether.

Pros
A great deal of choice through a frankly complex story
Strong highlight kink moments
Strong 2-protaginst set up, and it's enjoyable to play both
A large group of interesting secondary characters


Cons
There's an addon that displays path points more clearly that should eventually just be in the game proper, as its so useful. At the same time, it's also not too hurt to obtain yourself.

One of my favorite femdom games.

[Version 0.5b played]
Karlsson's Gambit is a fantastic femdom visual novel/game. The characters, story, writing, music, and renders are top-notch.

The game is set in the dystopian World featuring an intriguing story with many interesting and mysterious characters. You control two characters, male and female, who can become either submissive or dominant depending on the choices you make throughout the game. Unlike many games, your decisions matter here, resulting in different possible outcomes and endings. It's one of my favourite qualities of this game as it extends playtime and allows multiple playthroughs. It reminds me of classics such as Fallout New Vegas and Witcher 3 in that aspect. I spent many hours in Karlsson's Gambit, and according to a dev, the game is still only about halfway done. I can't wait to play the next episodes to see how mysteries will unfold and what will happen to my two characters.

The game contains many different kinks and fetishes, from soft to very hard. Women in the game are all gorgeous, and I particularly like all the different outfits and shoes they wear. The music is so enjoyable, it's quite varied and fits each scene perfectly. Locations and the environments are beautiful too. Really love renders in this game.

I played almost every femdom-related game on this site and elsewhere, and to put it simply, this is one of the best, if not the best femdom game you can play currently. I think every femdom and even non-femdom fan will enjoy it. And lastly, the developer is very communicative, honest and makes frequent development updates on Patreon. She is a very talented artist and one of the best devs out there IMO.

[v0.5B]
I have mixed feelings about the game, to be honest, let me say that it does have a good amount of content and scenes, they're all fun and enjoyable, the story itself is interesting and I've always found myself interested in what would happen next, the thing I didn't like and bothered me the most, is the story development.
The story allegedly takes place in a dystopian femdom setting however the reality can be quite the opposite depending on your choices,at first I truly believed that and so on my first run I tried to be compliant and docile as in my mind that'll be the only way to survive in such an unfair situation, I also assumed that attitude combined with wits and some diplomacy will be my ticket to try to climb the ladder, only to notice how it's actually leading my character into worse and worse predicaments, I noticed that submition, degradation and humiliation often go hand in hand and are unseparated, characters do not like you when you do their bidding or listen to them, quite the opposite they dislike you, treat you the same or worse and lose interest and respect for you, which I guess is to be expected from one or two of them but not all of them, characters would suddenly change their tone from showing interest in making you theirs or atleast serve them only to lose it all, although it bothered me how severe their reactions and actions were, I attributed it all to the story predisposed to being grim, with limited agency of the player to improve their situation or keep any ounce of dignity they have, or so I thought until I replayed the game with a dom playthrough in mind.
I was shocked to see the tone of the story take a 180 turn, things just go your way and characters behave differently than how their personalities present them to be, some that were absolutely ruthless and even sadistic just swoon over you for some reason, everyone treats you with respect and hand over authority, playing the game felt like an anime protagonist in a harem simulator, the dystopian femdom goes right out the window, from being one of the expendable lowlifes to basically ruling the entire facility in a single jump, even Juliette who seemed to be one of the biggest dangers to the MC becomes a trivial threat if not entirely manageable.
I tried replaying and mixing choices here and there and found that the story takes either two extremes, a king of the world scenario if you do everything right, or a straight-up slippery slope towards the bottom if you try anything else with no in-between, doing tasks properly amounts to nothing, only by ordering everyone to suck your dick can you make it far in this story.
Basically, the overall portrayal of sub/dom dynamics seems to be cartoonish and lacks depth and nuance, you can order dominant and even sadistic characters to do what you want and they comply despite being the ones who actually hold power while expressing the desire to be dominated by a worthy stud (the mc ofc), and if you submit to them all remark how they wish the MC were better to dominate them, this bias shows in the drastic difference in scene numbers between the two [only] routes, with there being more scenes for the dominant MC.
I would still recommend that people give it a shot, if anything the dom path and its scenes are quite nice and fun, however, if you were expecting a proper "femdom" you will be disappointed by how two-dimensional it is.
Still gonna follow the game and see how the story goes.