What this is
A 4×4 sliding puzzle. Push every tile in one direction and matching numbers merge: two 2s become a 4, two 4s become an 8. The goal is to build a 2048 tile.
The board does not end when you get there. You can keep going to 4096 and beyond, and your score keeps climbing. The game ends only when the board is full and no two neighbours match.
Controls
| Touch | Swipe across the board |
| Keyboard | Arrow keys or W A S D |
Every tile moves at once, all the way until it hits a wall or another tile. If nothing can move in the direction you pushed, nothing happens — and no new tile appears.
After each move that changes the board, a 2 or a 4 appears in a random empty cell. Nine times out of ten it is a 2.
Rules people get wrong
A tile that has just merged cannot merge again on the same move. Pushing 2 2 4 left
gives 4 4, not 8. The two 2s become a 4, and that 4 is done for this move. Getting to 8
takes one more push.
Pairs form from the side you are pushing towards. 4 2 2 pushed left gives 4 4.
The direction decides which pair of twos meets.
Score is the value of what you create. Make a 4 and you gain 4 points; make an 8 and you gain 8. Bigger tiles are worth exponentially more, so your score mostly reflects the largest tile you built.
Strategy
Pick one corner and defend it
Keeping your largest tile locked in a corner is the whole game. If you pick bottom-left, use left and down and avoid up and right. A big tile stranded in the middle blocks everything around it.
Decide the corner before you start. Switching halfway wrecks the row you already built.
Build a snake
With a corner chosen, fill that row in descending order — 1024 512 256 128 along the
bottom — then run the next row back the other way. The zig-zag shape is why it is called a
snake.
This keeps every tile next to its match. Stack tiles at random and your big numbers end up separated forever.
Never push up
If you are defending bottom-left, pushing up lifts the whole bottom row. The moment your largest tile leaves its corner, that board usually collapses.
Down, left and right will carry you through almost everything. Use up only when there is genuinely nothing else, and look once more before you do.
Clear small tiles early
A stray 2 wedged between two large tiles is what usually breaks a snake. Tidy them up while you still have space.
When the board fills
Once you are down to two or three empty cells, check your next move before each push. Where can a new tile appear, and what can you merge after that? Most losses come from pushing on autopilot.
Daily challenge
A new board opens every midnight (KST). Everyone plays the exact same board that day, so it comes down to reading the board rather than luck. Rankings reset when the next board opens.