Score intelligence

How 195-0 scoring actually works

Your cabinet earns a campaign strength between 25 and 315, and that number is converted into the territories you take. Nothing is hidden and nothing is capped away: the strongest cabinet in the game lands on exactly 195, and everything below it is spread across the full bar.

Every figure on this page is computed at build time from the same scoring data the game itself runs on, so it cannot drift from what you see on the result screen.

The model

The seven steps, in order

1. Start at 25

   A small floor, not a head start. It exists so the arithmetic has a base to sit on — an empty cabinet conquers nothing.

2. Add each seat's raw category weight

   Every seat has its own table, and the numbers are addedas they are — not normalised against the seat's range. That is deliberate: a Military Commander at General is worth more than any Vice President pick, and the score should say so. A category missing from a table scores a flat 16.

3. Add 10 per specialist seat

   Four seats pay a flat bonus when you give them a category that belongs there. Vice President does not, and that is its whole identity: it is the seat with nothing to prove and nothing to lose.

4. Add 8 for three or more nations

   Country variety is worth 8 points of campaign strength — around 5 territories. A fourth and fifth nation add nothing. Chasing diversity at the expense of a good fit is a losing trade.

5. Subtract 30 if nobody has authority

   If no Politician, Dictator or Military Commander sits anywhere in the five seats, the cabinet loses 30 campaign strength — about 20 territories. It is the largest single swing in the game. It is also a subtraction rather than a multiplier, so a cabinet that is strong everywhere else can still climb back out.

6. Subtract 16 at General, 14 at Treasurer

   A Poet or Taboo Star in either hard-power seat takes an explicit penalty on top of their already dismal weight. Both can apply at once.

7. Add a 0–14 campaign roll

   The final flourish is uniform random, and it is the only term you do not control. It is worth up to 9 territories — enough to matter, never enough to rescue a bad cabinet.

8. Convert to territories

   Campaign strength becomes a nation count by(strength − 25) × 195 ÷ 290. The two constants are not chosen — they are derived from the weight tables, so the best reachable cabinet lands on exactly 195 and nothing is thrown away above the ceiling.

Worked example

The best possible cabinet

The highest-scoring assignment in the game reaches 186 territories before any luck, and 195 on the maximum roll. Nothing scores higher, and nothing is wasted above the ceiling.

Note what it does with the two top seats. Politicians leadboth the President table (48) and the Vice President table (36), and nothing stops you drafting two of them from different countries — so the optimum doubles up rather than spending the seat on a category worth less there. Every cabinet of five distinct categories tops out at 184.

Worked example

When assignment really costs you

Who you draft matters less than where you seat them. This is the sharpest single swap in the entire game — the same five people, with the General and the Propaganda Minister trading desks:

68 territories lost to one decision. The Poet drops the General seat from 50 to 8, forfeits the specialist bonus andtriggers the 16-point penalty, while the commander is wasted on propaganda at 12 — the worst entry in that entire table.

Worked example

The authority trap

This cabinet is full of strong, sensible appointments — and nobody in it is a Politician, Dictator or Military Commander.

Across all 360,360 possible cabinets, the median result with an authority figure is 95 territories. Without one it is 63 — a gap of 32 territories. Nothing else in the game comes close. Note that it is still recoverable: the cabinet above lands at 125, not at the floor.

See what it takes to guarantee 195 →

Worked example

Two penalties at once

A Poet at General and a Taboo Star at Treasurer stack for a 30-point deduction, on top of both seats already scoring near the floor and forfeiting both specialist bonuses.

Worked example

What the country bonus is really worth

The optimal cabinet again, this time drawn entirely from one nation.

It loses the 8-point alliance bonus and nothing else: 180 against 186 — a 6-territory difference. Country variety is a tiebreaker, not a strategy.

Campaign outcomes

The seven result bands

Seven, not five — and the thresholds are not evenly spaced. Anything below 15 requires actively trying.

Field notes

Scoring questions