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

I'd have to say that Karlsson's Gambit is one of the best examples of the potential that Adult Visual Novels have. The idea that this REMOTELY qualifies as a 1 or 2-star experience is genuinely laughable.

Pros:
+ the story is engaging, and the main roster of characters are all distinct. Be warned that it has a heavy focus on femdom, however I'd argue that even if it's not a big kink of yours (as it isn't for me, I don't really like femdom), if you're smart enough you'll actually come to still enjoy the AVN due to it's integration into the world. Not only that, but you are given many opportunities to either avoid the more extreme elements, or just not participate in it.
+ the amount of choices and content in the game is INTENSE. I have some issues with the fact that in some instances you have to do things in a specific way to get a desirable outcome, however I still believe it's better to have a variety of choices and learn to navigate through that labyrinth, rather than just having a kinetic novel where every choice is out of your control.
+ visually, it's great. I wouldn't say it's a total work of art, however I believe with the sheer amount of content in the game, having some ridiculous 4k visuals with actual animations would result in a game file size of like 20GB, which is just ridiculous. The models, lighting and posing are all great, and the instances of clipping or unnatural movement of objects ultimately ends up being too trivial to truly complain about.

Cons:
- an unfortunate problem that feels like it's creeping in more and more for anyone doing the dom route is that the story goes on, the emphasis on femdom clashes with the significance of the main protagonist. You are shown, ad nauseam, that you are arguably one of the most important people on the face of the Earth. No exaggeration. So, when you're choosing to go the more dominant/liberated route by climbing the ranks, often times the game still tries to enforce the idea that all of these women can ruin you, when the people that actually know of your importance should instead be trying to curry favour with you. They all constantly hold information from you, lie to you, attempt to manipulate you, use you. Even the people that are unaware of the full extent of your importance know you're valuable, and yet their behaviour doesn't really change because of that, but more simply due to your current position.

That works in terms of the overarching world, but think about the end of the AVN: will the end just be that you're on top? If so, what opportunities will you actually have to dominate anyone already on the top level? Because the entire structure of the narrative is built around the levels you are assigned, it means that people doing the sub route will ALWAYS have more content to view on that specific route, because it plays into the established rules rather than working to attempt and push against them.

This also means that every time you uncover a lie or avoid a trap, it doesn't actually feel as rewarding as it should be. You don't get any ability to push back or seek revenge, in fact, you as the protagonist aren't actually ALLOWED to feel a desire to seek revenge.* If it was merely an inability due to your status still being several levels lower on the hierarchy, I'd understand, but he doesn't even seem to have the THOUGHT of what he'd do in a higher position. Everything else in the story is pretty clearly written on the board, the twists are all pretty easy to predict, so the fact it's not even being HINTED at gives me some concerns. Keep in mind this is less a major problem now, but it's a negative undertone that has the likelihood of becoming a major problem, as this is one AVN that relies HEAVILY on a satisfying conclusion.

- I will mention this in the negatives, but the amount of times I had to redo my choices because I had to get a specific amount of points with a certain person could be tedious. There are so many variables in the AVN that you're almost obligated to use a guide, especially if you don't want to be the dominated. This is because of the dev's personal enjoyment of femdom, so I understand their design choices and the story beats, but nonetheless it can still be frustrating.

Ultimately, at time of writing [v0.7b], I give it a 9/10. The third act will really make or break the score, because it could easily be pushed to a 10, or to a 6.

EDIT [v0.8 Test Part I]:
+ *Tess has actually worked to improve one of the issues I had, which is that the MC lacked any real opinion on the fact literally everyone has been lying to him. Multiple times people comment "oh, here's this time I lied to you" and he rightfully get pissed, which is what I've been waiting for for aaages.


I'm still of the belief this is a 9/10 AVN, however the update has proven to me that sticking the landing is indeed going to be a difficult task.

So this is a game where the tags are almost an outright lie, and so are the dev notes. To begin with, you are going to be the bitch 99% of the time. Assuming you are using a walkthrough, which here is almost mandatory, the points are virtually useless. Any dom or avoiding femdom stuff doesn't do anything until waaaaaaaaaay later and it's minimalistic at best. 99% of the time you are going to be the bitch and you don't get a say in this. You have no choice in what you see or don't see, and you can't just refuse scenes that you have no interest in. Based on reading the dev notes and genres, its implied that you would be able to break out of this femdom mold and make it more maledom oriented but that is a lie.
The story also makes no sense. A bunch of skinny highschool tier girls that gossip and bitch amongst eachother dominating and overpowering buff muscle dudes that are twice their size? Underground torture labs using advanced sci-fi tech? Open slavery of people that you can break out of suddenly with dumb pretend K points? It's just dumb and unbelieveable and poorly written. There are also so many characters and I don't even remember all their names because they come and go, phase in and out and serve little to no purpose. It's a total waste. There's also this really dumb feature of playing your sister as the second character and you have choices that fuck over your mc. ??? Why would you ever include this. Why would I want to screw over myself and sabotage my own choices? The sister also is taken out of your control and forced to do shit that you would not choose her to do either. It's just bad. This game is bad and is obviously held in such high praise because of it's heavy generic evil femdom stuff. Avoid this game unless you are just absolutely desperate to get your nuts crushed by bland honey select model evil villains straight out of a comic book. Awful.

Karlsson's Gambit [v0.7b Final]


Cons:
Boring Story
Too slow burn
Boring Characters
Cringy scenes
lame sex scenes
too many choices that don't seem like they matter


Conclusion:
After reading all the rave reviews here, I had to ask myself if I played the same game.
Because this game was such a chore to play, and bored me to death.
There was absolutely nothing in this game I found to be slightly entertaining, but more cringy and incredibly boring.
I don't care for femdom, so I tried to stear it more towards maledom.
But it really doesn't seem to matter what you do, because you get forced in to this shitty femdom storyline that doesn't make any fucking sense, and have to watch some fucking dweebs get humiliated.
You get bombarded with 4-5 choices that are often times too convoluted.
There's no action to be seen here, but just scenes that are really dull.
There are too many characters and they are so uninteresting and cringy, that I just want them all to die.
I guess this game is supposed to be for fans of femdom, but then again I don't see why they would like it, when there's little to nothing interesting in this game.

Amazing looking game, made with quality and passion.

One of rare games where you can take such a different paths and decisions you're making in game have such a huge meaning.

Person who made the game is clearly into BDSM for real and you can see passion and real interest in making the game.

Lot of different kinks and paths, so there is something for everyone to enjoy depending on the paths/decisions you make.
High quality and enjoyable game, good looking girls and very different from each other so can find whatever you're looking for.
Interesting world, good writing and fitting for femdom.

The storyline is actually quite interesting and I definitely liked the artwork. I like the way it's written overall and the play on femdom and more extreme fetishes, kind of wraps around the idea of a "taboo" game. Really enjoyed it, big 5 stars for the great content.

MY GAME! I have a love for this game like I rarely experience. Yet, it is so far from my usual criteria, and the themes are not my style at all. However, it has something completely different from everything else. It doesn't resemble any other game; it deserves the word: ORIGINAL. Finally, a game that isn't a mere copy-paste of another. It's just amazing... Yes, the beauty of the images and the girls is undeniable, but the writing... the universe, the lore, it's impressive. It has the potential of a TV series, but far better written than what we are served nowadays.

The storyline is incredibly strong. It has hierarchy, suspense, and it feels like there's a before and after the game; there's depth, really. If there ever is a book, I'll buy it without hesitation. So why is it far from what I'm used to? I don't like causing harm, even virtually, and here BDSM and submission are central themes. But... it's so well justified and portrayed. And there's meaning behind it. It's the women who dominate and reverse the roles, it's unsettling but so right, so well thought out. You get used to it, you get attached to it.

The gameplay... WOW... the choices have real consequences, giving it dimension. There's an enormous amount of branching, routes, and paths; that's exactly what I look for in a choice-based game. It's all perfect. I find it flawless, and words fail me to compliment it further.

What do I prefer in this game? The music... a masterpiece... the game's themes put me on my knees. I sometimes turn on the game just to listen to the music, as if it were a Final Fantasy or a game on the Super Nintendo. It's incredible how each piece transcends me. The music adds depth to the dialogues, a new language that conveys intentions beyond words. While everything is great in the criteria we expect from such a game, for me, the game's music is on an even higher level. Do as I do, don't stop at the tags; enjoy it. It deserves recognition. Thank you KG... truly, thank you.

this is one of the best games (of this kind) i had ever played. the writing here is top notch, especially compared with other games this kind, and its all based on dialogues and thoughts.
I love the mind games that are going on and how you can feel the desperation. there also some twists that i dont saw coming. this game is mean, evil, sick, twisted minded and i love it.
many decisions really impact the story, as for that, you can play this game either as sub or dom, evil oder good.

music also contributes significantly to the atmosphere and is well used here.

the rendering is nothing special but good. not much more to say about this.

I won't go into the delicate details. if you're into femdom, you're bound to be satisfied. it might even be too extreme for some.
i dont now about that other part, how was it called, male domination? sounds weird.

hope to see more like this in the future

This is an exceptional VN , refreshing plot ,dark theme ,plenty of determining choices ,gorgeous characters , extensive world ,it has a potential to be a superb game , althought it doesn't reach that grade on action, focus of story is on so many characters if not 2 MC , despite duration of story there is not much of relationship shaping between characters , even if there is it's very faint .

I am not sure how to feel about playing MC as sub , it's a lackluster experience to see MC and his friends getting diminished and clobbered over and over again , maybe there is an audience for these parts but I doubt it will be enjoyable for all , also I feel it's exaggerated and not in good way.

Sometimes story can be intricate and hard to follow, as a result choices are difficult to be made , you don't know exactly what choice causes to progress in which path and that can be perplexing.

Overall KarlssonsGambit is a pretty good game , it has potential to be great.

[Version 0.7a]

Before anything else a warning:
This game is definitively not for all players. Almost all the game can be tweaked according to your taste, but it really cover all the sadism spectrum, including extreme torture and death. It is fully avoidable, and when exceptionally it can't because an important part of the story, it will stay soft and totally bearable. But if it's really not for you, be careful when you interact with Juliette Karlsson.


Like I implied, the game have a high customization value.

It cover nearly the whole BDSM spectrum, from softcore to the most extreme as I said. And all this will be done through your choices in game. While, due to the story itself, it's not possible to be a totally dome MC, it's still perfectly possible to dominate anyone that have a rank lower than yours. And you can also decide to totally submit.
"Ranks"... This is an important factor, probably the most important one. Everything in the Karlsson group, and therefore in the game, depend of the ranks. Who have to submit, who can dominate, it's the rank that decide. They also decide what you'll have to do. The higher is your rank, the closest you'll be to a free man and, by opposition, the lower is it's, the more you'll be treated as nothing more that a slave, when not purely an object.

"Ranks" are also where lie the power of this game. They aren't just a number, the story you'll see will really and totally depend of your rank and decisions.
Personally I follow many playthrough, and the difference between my MC at the highest rank, and my MC at K4 rank (there's lower ones, but it's not my thing) are really amazing to witness. In the first one I'm a future successful executive who have his own team, in the second I crawl on the floor, when I don't have to clean it.
It's not just some dialogs or images that change, it's whole scenes and story. Consider that by following only one playthrough, you'll only see at most one quarter of the effective content, and know less than half the story ; the half that matter for your MC.

But don't be afraid by what I just said. Despite the complexity under the hood, the game is really easy to play ; well, perhaps should have said "relatively easy".
You'll have choices and globally all matters ; your fate totally depend on your answers. So, you need to be attentive to the girls, not staying passively on your seat, but trying to decipher their personality, acting smartly to not annoy them while not submitting completely... unless submitting is what you want, of course. In short, be you...
By example, if a girl ask you to lick her boots, if you instantly agree, expect her to dominate you very quickly. Like she'll probably punish you, and do her best to break you if you rebel. But you'll also have the possibility to comply reluctantly, understanding that you aren't in position to refuse, and therefore are just doing what is the best for you at that instant.

So, yes, it's an easy to play game, as long as you remember to think before you act. And for me it's a really interesting part of the game.
This is made possible by the real depth of the girls personality. Despite their apparent simplicity, each character is really unique, even the purely secondary ones. They looks like sadistic bitches, and some effectively are, but all have their own reasons to be it, and all pursue their own goals.
This goes as far as one of the Karlsson daughters (I'll let you discover which one) being bendable. And, well there's something orgasmic in the fact to make one of the most powerful person in the world kneel in front of you and let you fuck her like a simple slut. But don't dream, she stay a Karlsson, whatever how far she'll submit, you worth near to nothing compared to her, and she'll never forget it.


As for the story, it's both a complex and simple one.

In a word that collapsed, rich girls are now the dominant gender, and everyone else, especially men, are just tools. But even tools can be useful, especially when they are decisive pawns in a gambit that will decide the fate of the world, like the MCs are.
But this is just the top of the iceberg, because the gambit isn't just a hobby powerful people play to pass time. It will really decide the fate of the world, and it's you, the player, that will choose who will win it.
But this isn't you sole choice, you'll also have the possibility to shape the winner mind, to some extend of course. And you'll have to decide what will be your places in this new world.
As the name of the game tell, the main point of the story is this gambit. What is this gambit ? You'll have to uncover it, slowly. Is the gambit what it looks like ? This too you'll have to uncover it through the game, and it's possible that even the players will be surprised by the answer.
In short, the mystery is deeper and more complex than it appear. Like always when a mind game is played at the top of the power pyramid. Everyone have its own agenda, and the difference between two can be as big as their sins. Up to you, player, to discover the truth and decide what agenda you'll follow... or what girl you'll team with, trying to make her follow your own agenda.

You probably noted that I switched to plural to talk about the main character. It's because there's two. A brother, who will have to fight for his future, and his sister, who will have her future delivered on a silver tray. And, sorry, but it's all I can say without spoiling you. There's also a second brother, that will play a (so far) minor role on the game, but a way more important on in the story.
Depending on the moment in the game, you'll play one or the other of those three characters, being faithful to the family, or not.... And also deciding what "family" mean... This also will have an important impact on the story, and therefore the fate of the world and two others MCs.
Here again there's something really interesting here. Especially when playing the sister, since she's the one with power. You need to weight your choices, because what is good for you can also mean a terrible fate for your brothers. So, faithful to your family, or to yourself ? This is a question that will matters way more than once.


As for the game as game, what to say that I haven't already addressed ?

It really adapt to your choices, in a way it's all that you've to know. The scenes are really well designed and written, feeling perfectly natural most of the time. And when they don't, it's not necessarily because of the author... How many of us can tell what a natural torture to death scene looks like, what are the thoughts of the victim and the ones of the tormentor ?
The realization is good. It could have been better accordingly to nowadays standard, but in regard of the complexity I guess it could be said as being "great". There's sometimes really small inconstancy, but they are barely noticeable if you follow just one playthrough. There's also sometimes small inconstancy in the renders, but once again it's barely noticeable, while being excusable seen the number of them.

The only effective bad point is that the game isn't made for parallel playthroughs. This while parallel playthroughs are probably the best way to enjoy fully the game.
Sometimes there's minor changes in the dialogs, but the renders used are different ; generally in order to reflect the feeling due to the MC rank. This could have been handled without effectively relying on two different scenes, and therefore be skipable if you already seen the scene from another rank point of view.
The complexity of the story is also parts of what make parallel playthroughs difficult to handle. You'll uncover different parts of the girls' personality, having different goals, and it's sometimes difficult to remember to which playthrough it come.

Those small details are the reason why I only give four stars.
Would the game have been started two years earlier, I would have gone for five without hesitation. But nowadays standards have rise, and the realization do not met what is now expected for such game.

Absolutely love this game/visual novel graphics are great and the story is amazing as well it's very deep and complex with a lot of options to choose from on how the story will go depending on one's actions it also has quite a few twists and turns as well and will keep one on their toes highly recommend this game/visual novel

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.