Merge your way to 2048
Use arrow keys or swipe to play.
2048 is the addictive sliding-tile puzzle where you combine matching numbers to double them. Slide the whole board, watch equal tiles fuse, and keep going until a single golden 2048 tile appears — then push for 4096 and beyond.
How to play
2048 in 4 steps
Slide the board
Use the arrow keys (or swipe on touch) to push every tile in one direction at once.
Merge equal tiles
When two tiles with the same number touch as they slide, they fuse into one tile of double the value: 2 + 2 = 4, 4 + 4 = 8.
A new tile appears
After every move a fresh 2 or 4 spawns on a random empty cell. The board fills up fast, so plan ahead.
Reach 2048
Keep merging upward. Build a 2048 tile to win — but the board keeps going if you want a higher score.
Controls
- Arrow keys / W A S D
- Slide all tiles up, down, left or right
- Swipe
- Slide tiles in the swiped direction (touch devices)
- R
- Start a new game
Strategy
Tips to play better
Pick a corner and commit
Keep your biggest tile pinned in one corner and never move it out. Most top scores funnel everything toward a single corner.
Build a chain
Arrange your largest tiles in a descending row or column next to the corner so they cascade-merge in one slide.
Avoid the up move
If you anchor the bottom-right, mostly use down, right and left. Sliding up scatters your carefully stacked tiles.
Don't chase every merge
Sometimes leaving small tiles unmerged keeps your structure intact. Think two moves ahead before reacting.
About 2048
2048 was created in 2014 by 19-year-old Italian developer Gabriele Cirulli over a single weekend, inspired by the games Threes and 1024. He released it for free and open-source, and it exploded into one of the most-played browser puzzles of all time.
The rules are deceptively simple — slide, merge, repeat — but the game is a genuine test of planning. Every move shifts the entire board, and a single careless slide can lock your highest tiles apart and end a run. Strong players think several moves ahead, treating the grid like a sliding puzzle where position matters as much as value.
This Unicode edition keeps the original 4×4 grid and the classic doubling math, but renders every tile as crisp typography rather than images, so it loads instantly and stays razor-sharp at any zoom. Your best score is saved locally in your browser — no account, no tracking, no install.
FAQ
2048 questions
Is 2048 free to play here?
How do you actually win 2048?
What is the highest possible tile in 2048?
Does it work on mobile?
Is my score saved?
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