How to play: Use your arrow keys to move the tiles. When two tiles with the same number touch, they merge into one!

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Other version: 2048 Cupcakes / 2048 Doge

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Note: 2048 was made by Gabriele Cirulli and released as open source (MIT licence); this page runs that game unchanged in your browser.

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2048 rules: how the tiles move and merge

The board is a 4×4 grid that starts with two tiles on it. Each time you pick a direction, every tile slides as far as it can that way. Two tiles with the same number that run into each other become one tile worth their sum, so 8 and 8 make 16. After a move that changes the board, one new tile drops into a random empty cell. In this build it is a 2 nine times out of ten and a 4 the rest of the time. A press that moves nothing adds no tile, so it costs you nothing.

Two details catch people out. A tile made during a move cannot merge again in that same move, so a row of 2, 2, 4 pushed left ends as 4, 4 and not 8. And the tiles nearest the wall you are pushing toward merge first: 2, 2, 2 pushed left gives 4, 2, while four 2s give 4, 4.

Your score goes up only when tiles merge, by the value of the new tile. You win the moment a 2048 tile appears, and Keep going lets you play on for a higher score. The game ends when the board is full and no two neighbouring tiles match.

2048 controls

Arrow keys, WASD and the Vim keys H, J, K and L all move the tiles. On a phone or tablet, swipe. New Game or the R key restarts, and R does it at once with no warning, so keep your finger off it on a good run. A reload does not lose your game, because the board is kept in your browser until the game ends or you restart.

How to get to the 2048 tile

One 2048 tile is 1,024 of the starting 2s added together, with each 4 counting as two of them, so it takes somewhere around a thousand moves. Building that one tile earns about 20,000 points on its own. If your score is far below that, you have not been close yet. What beats the game is keeping the board tidy for that long:

• Pick one corner and keep your biggest tile in it. A big tile in the middle splits the board, and the small tiles around it stop being able to reach each other.
• Mostly use two directions. With the big tile in the bottom-left corner, that means left and down. Use right when you have to, and only when the bottom row is full so it cannot slide.
• Avoid the fourth direction, which in that setup is up. It lifts the big tile out of the corner and lets a new 2 land beneath it.
• Line up the row along the wall in order, like 512, 256, 128, 64. One merge at the small end then runs along the row.
• Check what each merge leaves behind. A low tile shut in behind large ones is hard to get out, and it is usually what ends a good run.

Other 2048 versions on this site

The rules are the same with different tiles on top: 2048 Cupcakes swaps the numbers for cupcakes, 2048 Doge uses the Doge meme, and Taylor Swift 2048 has its own tile art.

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2048 FAQ

How do you play 2048?

Use the arrow keys to slide every tile on the 4×4 grid in one direction; on a phone or tablet, swipe instead. When two tiles with the same number touch, they merge into one tile with their sum, and a new 2 or 4 appears after every move.

What happens when you reach the 2048 tile?

You win the game. A Keep going button lets you carry on past 2048 for a higher score, until the board fills up with no moves left.

Is my best score saved?

Yes. Your best score and the game in progress are stored in your own browser, so they survive a reload. Clearing site data or using a private window resets them.

Who made 2048?

2048 was created by Italian developer Gabriele Cirulli and released as a free, open-source browser game in March 2014.

Is 2048 unblocked at school?

2048 here is a plain web page with nothing to download or install, so it opens on a school Chromebook like any other site and plays with the arrow keys. Whether it loads on a school network is up to that school: if the network blocks it, it stays blocked, so play at break or at home.

Is 2048 free to play here?

Yes. It runs in the page with no download, no install and no account, on a computer, a Chromebook or a phone.

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