EPTThere is one thing that doesn't happen frequently in board games and that is the perfect score. What is the perfect score? I'm glad you asked!
So, some games have a scoreboard that is intended do be lapped, while others have a finite scoreboard that is much like a ladder. In theither creation of these games, the manufacturer probably never believed such a score would be obtainable in a game, thuso, the perfect score. In castles of the mad king Ludwig, the perfect score would be 150. No more, no less. Such an unobtainable goal. To score that many points is difficult, but to score it exactly, now that's a whole other ballpark.
So, as you might have imagined, I got a little salty the last time we played Castles of the mad king Ludwig. You see, the game actually went pretty well for me, but it was all spoiled in the end. Having some of the most broken rooms in my castle, all for reasonable price and early, I was on pace to win in dominant fashion right from the get go. I mean, I suppose this would give others reason to be salty and not me, seemingly every tile they brought out was of more value to me than to them... and my score climbed and climbed.
After several turns of bragging and taunting, the game came to an end with my lead being so large, you have to wonder why we even bothered to finish. Unfortunately, not all good things were meant to last. After tallying the points, my friend across from me asks... Did you finish on 150 exactly?
Me: Hey, yeah I did.
Him: You had a perfect game
Me: Yeah, that's actually really cool.
At this point, my personal satisfaction is at an all time high, I was invincible, it was as though I would never lose another game again. All the while, the less considerate friend to my left is looking through the rule book. He calls WAAAAAAAAIIIIT. The move he had made a turn prior was actually an illegal move, he just rule lawyered himself into submission. A CHEAT! My initial reaction was more of dismissal, like whatever, you lost by 75 points anyway, it's irrelevant.
Then a keen observation from the devil herself (my girlfriend): We'll, if he wasn't allowed to empty the stack of stairs, then you wouldn't have scored the additional 6 points for your stairs (since you score bonus points for having things that were in demand). And that's when it hit me. The sadness, the humiliation: I had spent this whole time bragging about the perfect score, but in reality I only managed 144 points... a heartbreaking defeat. I guess, at least for now, the perfect score remains a myth... unattainable, as it was always intended to be.
As for me, I have to make peace with my 30 point victory over the nearest competitor knowing that I was so close to greatness. Immortality in the former of a champion, it may have been a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I missed it.
I will carry this salt with me, till the day I die.
