2048 is a sliding number puzzle on a 4 × 4 grid. Each move slides every tile as far as it can go in one direction, and two tiles with the same number that collide merge into one tile with their sum. The goal is to make a tile worth 2048. The most reliable way to get there is the corner strategy: keep your biggest tile in one corner and build a descending chain next to it.

The rules

  1. Swipe or press an arrow key: up, down, left or right.
  2. All tiles slide in that direction. Equal tiles that touch merge: 2 + 2 = 4, 4 + 4 = 8 and so on.
  3. After every move, a new tile appears in an empty cell. It is usually a 2, and sometimes (about 1 time in 10) a 4.
  4. The game ends when the grid is full and no move can merge anything.

The original 2048 was created by Gabriele Cirulli and released in 2014.

How many merges does 2048 take?

2048 is 2 to the power of 11. Building one 2048 tile from 2s alone takes 1,023 merges (fewer when some 4s appear), which is why a full game usually lasts several hundred moves or more.

The corner strategy, step by step

  1. Pick a corner, for example bottom-left, and keep your largest tile there for the whole game.
  2. Fill the bottom row first with tiles that decrease away from the corner, such as 256, 128, 64, 32.
  3. Mostly use two directions, for example down and left. They keep tiles packed toward your corner.
  4. Use the third direction (right) only when you must. Keep the bottom row full when you do, so the big tile cannot move.
  5. Almost never press the fourth direction (up). It pulls the big tile out of its corner and lets a small tile drop in behind it.

Snake pattern

Once the bottom row is full, continue the chain on the row above in the opposite direction, like a snake: bottom row decreasing left to right, the second row decreasing right to left. Merges then flow down the snake into your corner tile.

Common mistakes

  • Chasing every merge. A merge that pulls a tile out of your chain often costs more than it gains.
  • Letting small tiles get stuck between big ones. A 2 trapped between a 64 and a 128 can block the row for a long time.
  • Panicking when the grid fills. Look for the move that keeps your corner, even if it merges nothing.

Variants

2048 Legend follows the classic rules. 2048 Ballz applies the same merge idea to physics: you drop numbered balls and combine equal ones, so the corner strategy does not apply in the same way.

More games are in the puzzle games category.