2048 rules

2048 is a sliding number puzzle for one player. Numbered tiles lie on a board of four by four cells, and every move slides all of them at once. When two tiles with the same number run into each other they merge into one tile with their sum. The aim is to build a tile with 2048 on it.

The game was written by Gabriele Cirulli in 2014. The rules here are the original ones; the only thing added is a way to race friends.

The board and the tiles

The board has sixteen cells, four across and four down. Every tile carries a power of two: 2, 4, 8, 16 and so on. A game starts with two tiles on an otherwise empty board, each a 2 or a 4.

A move: sliding the board

A move is a slide in one of four directions: up, down, left or right. Every tile on the board travels that way as far as it can, until it reaches the edge or the next tile in its path.

A slide that would move nothing does not count as a move. If every tile is already pressed against the left edge with nothing to merge, pressing left does nothing, and no new tile appears.

Merging

When a tile slides into a tile with the same number, the two become one tile with double the number: two 2s make a 4, two 4s make an 8, two 1024s make 2048.

There are two rules about merging that matter:

• A tile merges only once per move. A tile just made by a merge does not merge again in the same slide. So four 2s slid left make two 4s, not an 8.
• Merges happen from the edge you slide towards. With three equal tiles in a row, the two nearest that edge merge, and the third one stays as it is.

The same goes for a tile made by a merge meeting an equal tile behind it: 2 2 4 slid left becomes 4 4, not 8. The fresh 4 waits for the next move.

New tiles

After every move, one new tile appears in a random empty cell. It is a 2 nine times out of ten and a 4 the tenth time. You cannot choose where it lands, but you can choose which cells you leave empty, and that is where most of the skill in 2048 lies (see the strategy guide).

The score

Every merge adds the number on the new tile to your score: merging two 8s into a 16 scores 16, and making 2048 scores 2048. Sliding without merging scores nothing. Your best score is kept in your browser.

Winning, and the end of the game

You win when a 2048 tile appears on the board. The game says so, and then lets you keep playing for a bigger tile (4096, 8192 and up) and a higher score. That is the classic game; an Endless game has no tile to reach at all (see Playing on your own below).

The game is over when the board is full and no slide can change it: every cell holds a tile and no two equal tiles sit side by side, across or down.

A full board is not always the end: if two equal tiles touch, sliding towards them merges them and frees a cell.

Controls

• Keyboard: the arrow keys, or W, A, S and D.
• Phone or tablet: swipe across the board in the direction you want. The board does not scroll the page while you swipe on it.
• Mouse: press on the board and drag, like a swipe.

A game in progress is saved in your browser after every move, so you can close the tab or reload the page and carry on where you left off. New game asks once before it throws the current one away.

Racing friends

Open a table with Race a friend and send the link to up to three friends. You play two, three or four boards at once, one each, with no turns.

• The same tiles for everyone. Every board starts the same, and the new tiles come to all of you in the same order: the 2s and 4s arrive in the same sequence, and each lands in the cell the same draw picks among your own empty cells. Nobody is dealt a luckier game.
• You see only your own board while the race is on. Of each of the others you see the score, the biggest tile and the number of moves. Every board is shown when the race ends.

Whoever opened the table chooses the race:

Before the start every friend who has sat down presses Ready, and whoever opened the table sees it and presses Start (at least one friend has to be seated). The race is dealt for everyone seated at that moment; anyone who arrives later watches. All the boards come alive at the same moment. In a race against the clock the time starts then, runs without stopping, and ends the race by itself; it does not wait for someone who has lost their connection.

When someone wins, the race ends there for everyone, and everyone else loses.

Running out of moves. A racer with no slide left is stuck, and their score stands. Once only one racer can still slide, they win as soon as their score goes past every score that stands, or when they make the target tile. If everyone gets stuck, the highest score wins; with two or more on the top score, it is a draw. So a race against the clock can end before the time is up, and this is the only way an endless race ends, short of resigning or a draw.

Resign puts you out, and you have lost; the others race on, and whoever is left alone in the race wins. Someone who loses their connection has 60 seconds to come back; after that the others can race on without them, as if they had resigned.

Anyone still racing can offer a draw. It is a draw only when everyone still racing agrees; declining it, or sliding on before agreeing, turns it down.

After a race, Play again starts the same race on a fresh board for the same players straight away, everyone moving one seat round, and keeps the score. Whoever opened the table can press Change settings instead to choose another race first, and someone new can sit down then; the score is kept then too.

Playing on your own

On your own there is no computer on the other side: the board is the opponent. The panel shows your score, your biggest tile, the number of moves and your best score so far.

Before your first slide you choose the game:

• Classic: to 2048, then on for a bigger tile and a higher score, as above.
• Endless: there is no 2048 to reach and nothing is won along the way. You slide for the score alone until no move is left, and the game ends with your final score.

The choice is kept for your next new game.

Ready? Play 2048, or read how to win at 2048 first. If you like puzzles on paper, try nonograms and minesweeper too.