I tried lots of things at that stage, and while I couldn’t see any actions that would work, I may not have noticed that the water wasn’t rising. That would give us another 3 or 4 turns!
[Edit] After a little bit of playing, I’ve got to $1891 in version 210127. I’ll need to do a more thorough attempt tomorrow.
Okay, I’ve equalled Stephen’s score of $1911 in release 210127.
I’m getting the “What would your like for the final action in your life to be?” message just before climbing to the Fo’c’sle, so this feels like the optimal score with the glitch knowledge I currently possess.
get skull
open book
aft
get ball
up
aft
get sextant
open box
get flag
get flag
get flag
get tapestry
fore
fore
shoot cabinet
get violin
get plate
get pile
aft
get lump
get doll
up
up
look in tunnel
i
i
i
down
aft
look under bed
get medallion
fore
get locket
fore
get dagger
get dagger (undo until you succeed)
fore
get boat
fore
get zither
search hammocks
aft
up
up
get pearls
hit sextant
put pistol in sack
get in boat
Wow, you got 6,417 dollars??
(Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)
I’ve found a new bug in 140117! As the waters rise you stop being able to climb onto the bowsprit. But there’s a one turn window when you can climb again and still get the pearls!
| Message | Can climb | Can get pearls | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your chance to return to the main deck is almost gone. |  |
|
|
| The waters continue to bury the main deck. |  |
||
| The rising water has almost reached the level of the upper decks. | |
||
| The main deck is utterly lost now, and the waters begin inching up over the fo’c’sle and quarterdeck… | |
||
| The water glides over the fo’c’sle deck and soon it is up to your ankles. You are going to die here. | |
|
|
| Now the water is up to your shins. | |
|
you can climb but the pearls “roll” away |
| Your knees are underwater now. | |
|
you can climb - the pearls reappear and then roll away again! |
In 210127 you can always climb up and the pearls never get lost.
With this knowledge I can equal Robert’s score of $1856 (and can confirm with his transcript it’s the same strategy). I can’t see anything that suggests a higher score is possible - the zither disappears way too early to make a swap with something less valuable a possibility (I think 7 turns before I get there).
open book
aft
get ball
fore
get skull
aft
up
get doll
aft
get sextant
open box
get flag
get flag
get flag
get tapestry
fore
get lump
fore
shoot cabinet
get violin
get plate
get pile
aft
up
up
look in tunnel
i
i
i
down
aft
look under bed
get medallion
fore
fore
get dagger
get dagger (undo until you succeed)
fore
get boat
fore
search hammocks
aft
up
up
get pearls
hit sextant
put pistol in sack
get in boat
I think, finally, we might be at the end.
Anyone up for Sugarlawn again? 
Great work, and congratulations! If y’all could work out the best tricks for Last-Minute Magic now, I’d appreciate it… 
Oh! I’d missed that Ryan wrote another optimisation game!
