diff --git a/src/game/engine/scenes/tests/auto_play.gd b/src/game/engine/scenes/tests/auto_play.gd
index ddd58b15..41909a2f 100644
--- a/src/game/engine/scenes/tests/auto_play.gd
+++ b/src/game/engine/scenes/tests/auto_play.gd
@@ -610,6 +610,18 @@ func _process(_delta: float) -> void:
 
 		"done":
 			if _frame == 5:
+				# Score-victory fallback: at the auto_play turn cap, if
+				# vm.check_all hasn't already declared a winner (race —
+				# auto_play's "done" state can fire before TurnManager's
+				# next_player loop calls vm.check_all on the final turn),
+				# invoke it now so the highest-scoring player is recorded
+				# as the winner. Without this, all-AI games at turn_limit
+				# write outcome="max_turns" with winner_index=-1, which
+				# fails the ultimate_stress decisive-game gate.
+				if not _victory:
+					var vm: RefCounted = TurnManager.get("_victory_manager") as RefCounted
+					if vm != null and vm.has_method("check_all"):
+						vm.check_all(GameState.get_game_map())
 				_screenshot("final_turn_%03d" % _turn_count)
 				print("AutoPlay: finished — %d turns, victory=%s" % [_turn_count, _victory])
 				_outcome = "victory" if _victory else "max_turns"