diff --git a/src/game/engine/src/modules/victory/victory_manager.gd b/src/game/engine/src/modules/victory/victory_manager.gd
index de495017..d0be34ed 100644
--- a/src/game/engine/src/modules/victory/victory_manager.gd
+++ b/src/game/engine/src/modules/victory/victory_manager.gd
@@ -14,14 +14,29 @@ const UnitScript: GDScript = preload("res://engine/src/entities/unit.gd")
 const CityScript: GDScript = preload("res://engine/src/entities/city.gd")
 
 ## Minimum turn before any victory check fires.
+## Number of opening turns during which victory is suppressed. Early wins on
+## degenerate maps (one player eliminated before the game has had time to
+## develop) are not interesting and skew metrics — give every game at least
+## this much runway before a winner can be declared.
 const VICTORY_GRACE_TURNS: int = 10
 
-## Turn limit after which score fallback fires. Mirrors TurnProcessor.max_turns.
-const MAX_TURNS: int = 500
+## Fallback turn limit if GameState.game_settings.turn_limit is missing.
+## Real limit is read from game_settings["turn_limit"] at check time so the
+## score fallback fires in sync with whichever limit the game actually runs
+## against (batches set 300, real games may set 150 or 500).
+const MAX_TURNS_FALLBACK: int = 500
 
 var _game_over: bool = false
 
 
+## Resolved max-turn limit for this run. Reads GameState.game_settings first
+## so the score fallback fires at the same turn the game itself ends on, not
+## a hardcoded constant that gets out of sync.
+func _resolved_max_turns() -> int:
+	var settings: Dictionary = GameState.game_settings if GameState.game_settings != null else {}
+	return int(settings.get("turn_limit", MAX_TURNS_FALLBACK))
+
+
 ## Check all victory conditions. Emits EventBus.victory_achieved once.
 func check_all(_game_map: RefCounted) -> void:
 	if _game_over:
@@ -36,7 +51,7 @@ func check_all(_game_map: RefCounted) -> void:
 		return
 
 	# Score fallback: at max turns, award the highest-scoring player.
-	if GameState.turn_number >= MAX_TURNS:
+	if GameState.turn_number >= _resolved_max_turns():
 		var score_winner: int = _check_score_winner(_game_map)
 		if score_winner >= 0:
 			_game_over = true