2048
How to play 2048
2048 is a single-player sliding-tile puzzle played on a 4×4 grid. Every move slides every tile as far as it can go in one direction — up, down, left or right. When two tiles showing the same number collide, they merge into one tile worth double: two 2s become a 4, two 4s become an 8, and so on up the chain. After each move a new 2 (or occasionally a 4) appears on a random empty square. The goal is to build a tile that reads 2048 — and once you get there, you can keep going to chase a higher score.
The game ends only when the board is full and no adjacent tiles match, so there is no legal move left. Until then, every position has a way out.
Strategy: how to actually reach 2048
- Pick a corner and keep your biggest tile there. Most strong players anchor their largest tile in one corner and never move it out. Favour two directions (say, left and down) and avoid the opposite ones unless forced.
- Build a staircase. Keep each row or column ordered from largest to smallest toward your anchor corner, so equal tiles line up ready to merge in a chain.
- Merge in cascades, not one at a time. Setting up 4 → 4 → 8 → 16 in a single row lets one move collapse the whole line.
- Never fill the board evenly. Keep one row or column as a working lane; a full, disordered board is how runs end.
About this version
This is duplixo’s own implementation — free, no sign-up and no ads sitting on top of the board. Your best score is saved on your device and your current game resumes if you close the tab. Play with the arrow keys, WASD, or by swiping on a phone or tablet; it’s fully keyboard-navigable and respects a reduced-motion preference. 2048 was originally created by Gabriele Cirulli in 2014 as an open-source weekend project; duplixo is not affiliated with the original author.