How to play 2048

2048 is a game for one on a four by four board. Every swipe slides all the tiles one way, two tiles with the same number join into one with their sum, and the aim is to build a 2048 tile and then the highest score you can.

Players: 1
What you need: A board of four by four and numbered tiles
How long: Five to thirty minutes, for as long as a tile can move

What 2048 is

2048 is a puzzle for one player on a board of sixteen cells. Each tile carries a number, and every number is a power of two: 2, 4, 8, 16 and so on. You never place a tile. You swipe, and every tile on the board slides that way at once.

When two tiles with the same number meet, they become one tile of their sum. Two 2s make a 4, two 4s make an 8, and ten doublings from a 2 make 2048, the tile the game is named after. Reaching it does not end the game. You can play on for a 4096 and a higher score.

A game under way. The big tiles are kept along one edge, with the next ones lined up beside them.

Playing it here

Swipe up, down, left or right anywhere on the table. On a computer the arrow keys and W, A, S and D do the same.
Every tile slides as far as it can that way, and tiles that meet a twin join into one.
A new tile appears on an empty cell, and it is your turn again.

A swipe counts the moment your finger has moved far enough, so you do not need to lift it first. You can swipe again while the tiles are still sliding. A swipe that would move nothing is not a move, and nothing happens.

Every tile slides

A swipe moves every tile, never only one. Each tile travels until it reaches the edge of the board or a tile it cannot join.

So a swipe decides where every tile goes, and the board after it is the same whichever tile you were looking at. That is what makes the game a puzzle. Each move changes the whole board.

A swipe left. Each tile goes as far left as it can, stopping at the wall or at another tile.

Two of a kind join

Two tiles with the same number that meet in a swipe become one tile with their sum, in the cell nearer the wall they slid towards.

A tile made in a swipe does not join again in the same swipe. A row of four 2s swiped left gives two 4s, and it takes a second swipe to join those into an 8. Where three equal tiles meet, the two nearest the wall join first.

Four 2s make two 4s, not an 8. Of three 2s, the two nearest the wall join, and the third slides up behind them.

A new tile after every move

After every swipe that moves something, a new tile appears on an empty cell. It is a 2 nine times in ten and a 4 the tenth time. Two tiles are on the board when a game starts.

After the swipe, a new 2 appears on one of the empty cells.

When the game ends

The game ends when no swipe can move a tile. That happens only when every cell is full and no two tiles next to each other, across or up and down, carry the same number.

While there is an empty cell, or a pair that could join, you play on.

Every cell is full and no tile has a twin beside it, so no swipe can move anything.

Scoring

Each join scores the number on the tile it makes. Two 2s joining into a 4 score 4, and two 1024s joining into 2048 score 2048. Nothing else scores.

So the score grows faster the bigger the tiles you build. Building one 2048 out of 2s scores 20,480 along the way. Your best score is kept on the game’s page, and on your account when you are signed in.

Today’s game and a new game

Today’s game brings the new tiles in the same order for everybody in Nepal: the same 2s and 4s, each in the same share of the empty cells. Where a tile lands still depends on how you played, but the luck is the same for everybody. It changes at midnight in Kathmandu.

A new game is dealt at random, and you can play as many as you like.

A few tips

Pick a corner and keep your biggest tile in it. Most good games are played with two directions most of the time, for example down and left, and a third only when they are stuck.
Keep the row along that corner full and in order, biggest first. A full row cannot slide sideways, so the big tile stays put.
Build the next tile up beside the biggest one, so that when it is ready the two join without moving anything else.
Avoid the direction that pulls your biggest tile out of its corner. If you have to, swipe back straight away.

Settings

There is one choice, which game to play. The board, the tiles and the scoring are the same in every game, so a best score always means the same game.

Setting	Standard	What it changes
Game	Today’s game	Today’s game brings everybody the same tiles today. A new game is dealt at random.

Words

Tile: A square on the board with a number on it, always a power of two.
Swipe: A move: every tile slides one way, up, down, left or right.
Join: Two tiles with the same number meeting in a swipe and becoming one tile with their sum.
Corner: Where most players keep their biggest tile, so the rest can be built up beside it.

Every rule on this page is the one the app plays by. Change any of them on the game's own page before you start.