Creator and Release Date

2048 was created by Gabriele Cirulli and first released in March 2014 as a web-based game.

Core Objective

The goal is to create a tile with the number 2048 by merging tiles of the same value.

How to Play

Use your keyboard's arrow keys (or swipe on mobile) to move all tiles in one direction. Tiles will slide as far as possible in the chosen direction until they hit the edge of the grid or another tile.

Tile Spawning Rules

After each valid move, a new tile will appear in a random empty spot on the board. The new tile will be either 2 (90% chance) or 4 (10% chance).

Merging Rules

When two tiles of the same value collide while moving, they merge into a single tile with a value equal to their sum. For example, two 2s merge into a 4, two 4s merge into an 8, and so on.

In a single move, newly merged tiles cannot merge again. When three or four tiles of the same value are in a row, only the two closest to the direction of movement will merge first.

Scoring System

Each time you merge two tiles, you earn points equal to the value of the resulting tile. For example, merging two 4s into an 8 gives you 8 points.

Board Sizes and Extensions

The standard version uses a 4x4 grid, but some variants offer larger grids like 5x5, 6x6, or even 8x8.

Game Over Conditions

The game ends when the board is full and no more moves can be made (no adjacent tiles of the same value).

Maximum Theoretical Tile

In a standard 4x4 game, the maximum theoretical tile is 131072.