Very fun. Unfortunately there is a way to, in my opinion, cheese it. I made it to 2485 on my second attempt.

Reversed to avoid spoiling the game: .gard ot reyalp eht gnicrof yb devlos eb dluoc siht ebyaM .kcab ot kcab tsrub eht reggirt ylbailer ot mhtyhr a ni taht od ot eunitnoc tsuj nac uoy ,kcilc ot ecalp thgir eht dnif uoy fI