The objective
Combine tiles on a 4 × 4 board. Reaching a 2048 tile is a milestone; every completed run also gives you a score to improve. There are no invented difficulty levels: this is the standard board.
Slide and merge
Swipe anywhere on the board, use its direction buttons, or focus it and press arrow keys or WASD. A move slides every tile as far as possible. Equal neighbors combine into one tile with twice the value.
A tile merges only once in a move. Moving 2, 2, 2, 2 left makes 4, 4, empty, empty, earning 8 points. It does not immediately create an 8. Moving 4, 4, 8, 8 left makes 8, 16, empty, empty, earning 24.
Score and new tiles
Each merged value adds to your score: 2 + 2 earns 4; 4 + 4 earns 8. A move that changes the board spawns one new tile, with a 90% chance of 2 and a 10% chance of 4. A move that changes nothing costs no move and spawns nothing.
Keep a corner steady
Try keeping your largest tile in a corner. Build a row or column of decreasing values beside it, and avoid moving that anchor away without a plan. A tempting small merge can break the order that lets your largest tiles meet.
Avoid board lock
Empty cells are options. Before swiping, check whether the next spawn could block an important pair. Keeping several spaces open is often better than taking the biggest immediate merge. A full board is still playable when two matching tiles touch horizontally or vertically.
At 2048 and beyond
The milestone stops active time and offers Continue or Finish. Continue lets you build larger tiles. You can finish afterward, or play until a full board has no matching neighbors. That normal game-over counts as completion, even below 2048.
Daily runs and Undo
Daily’s goal is simple: play one complete run and maximize your score. Every player starts with the same starting conditions for that date. Identical move sequences produce identical spawns; different strategies naturally produce different boards. Undo is disabled for Daily.
Practice offers one-step Undo. It restores score, moves, board and the random stream together, so repeating a move gives the same spawn. Undo never rerolls a tile. Replay Daily for practice; completion and Daily rewards are awarded once.
Saving and pausing
Moves save locally. Pause conceals the board and stops active time. Leaving the page also pauses; Continue picks up your saved board and asks you to resume. Your score is primary; time is only a secondary play-time measure.
Frequently asked questions
Why did nothing spawn?
The direction did not change the board. Try another direction; no move was counted.
Must I reach 2048 to complete Daily?
No. A locked board completes the run. After reaching 2048 you can also explicitly Finish.
When do tile achievements unlock?
Reach 512, 1024 or 2048 in a completed run. The existing platform evaluates achievements at completion, including after continuing beyond 2048.
Does Undo remove the milestone?
Undo restores the previous move’s milestone state. It is available in practice after you choose Continue. Finished runs cannot be undone.
Is my progress online?
No. Progress stays in this browser. Clearing local data removes it; there is no account or cross-device sync.
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