2048 game – play the number puzzle online

This 2048 game is a free online number puzzle you can play right in your browser, on a phone or a computer.

You slide numbered tiles around a four by four board, and when two tiles with the same number touch they merge into one tile with double the value.

Your goal is to build a tile that shows 2048, and then keep going for a higher score. How do I play 2048?

Swipe on a touch screen, or press the arrow keys or W, A, S, D on a keyboard; every tile slides as far as it can in that direction. After each move one new tile, usually a 2 and sometimes a 4, appears in an empty square.

Each merge adds the value of the new tile to your score, so merging two 64 tiles gives you 128 points. How can I win more often?

Keep your largest tile in one corner and build a chain of descending values along an edge, avoid pressing the direction that pulls the big tile out of that corner, and do not chase tiny merges when the board is crowded.

Think one move ahead, because a full board with no equal neighbours ends the game. Is it luck or skill? Both: the new tiles appear at random, but planning decides how far you get. Where is my best score kept?

Only in this browser on this device, and nothing is uploaded anywhere. Clearing site data resets it. This puzzle was written from scratch for this site.

It is meant for fun and a quick break, so rest your eyes and hands now and then. If you like number puzzles, you may also enjoy the mental math game or the number guessing game.