2048 is the sliding number puzzle: a four-by-four board of numbered tiles that all move at once. Slide them up, down, left or right; two equal tiles that meet merge into their sum. Keep merging, 2 and 2 into 4, 4 and 4 into 8, all the way up to the 2048 tile. Free in your browser, with no download and no sign-up — alone, or racing a friend on a link.
Gabriele Cirulli wrote 2048 in 2014 as a weekend project, and it became one of the most played puzzles on the web. It takes a minute to learn: every slide moves every tile as far as it will go, equal tiles that meet join into one, and a new 2 or 4 appears in an empty cell after each slide. The game ends when the board is full and no slide can change it.
What makes it a puzzle rather than luck is where you keep your tiles. Players who reach 2048 keep the biggest tile in one corner and build a row of shrinking numbers beside it, so that each merge feeds the next. The strategy guide below shows how.
Here 2048 is drawn in biro on squared paper. Your best score and any game under way stay in this browser, so you can close the tab and come back to it. After 2048 you can keep going for 4096 and beyond.
How the tiles slide and merge, where new tiles appear, how the score adds up, and when the game is over.
2048 Rules: How to Play 2048 →The corner strategy, the snake, which move to avoid, and how to recover when the big tile leaves its corner.
How to Win at 2048: Strategy and Tips →Open a table and send your friends the link: up to four can race. You race on boards that start the same, either to a tile — 512, 1024, 2048 or 4096 — for the highest score in 5, 10, 15 minutes or any time you choose, or endless, until only one racer is left sliding with the best score. One racer wins and everyone else loses.
Every racer gets the same new tiles in the same order, so the race is won by playing better, not by luck. You see everyone’s score and top tile as you go, and their whole boards at the end.
Yes. You win when a 2048 tile appears on the board. It takes most players a few games of practice, and nearly all winning games keep the biggest tile in one corner. After 2048 you can play on for 4096 and a higher score.
Keep your biggest tile in a corner and never move it out. Slide mostly in two directions, use a third when you must, and avoid the fourth. Build a row of numbers that shrink away from the corner, so one merge sets up the next.
In a classic game, the game says you have won and lets you play on. Tiles keep doubling, 4096, 8192 and up, and the score keeps growing until the board fills with no slide left. Choose endless before your first slide and there is no 2048 to reach at all: the game is only its score.
Yes. Open a table, send the link to up to three friends, and race on boards dealt the same tiles: first to a tile you choose, from 512 to 4096, the highest score in a time you set, or endless, for the best score once everyone else is out of moves.
Yes, completely. It runs in your browser on a computer or a phone, with no download, no account and no sign-up.
Like puzzles on paper? Try Minesweeper or Nonograms too.