How do you play?
- Swipe, or use the arrow keys, to slide every tile in one direction.
- Two tiles with the same number merge into one with their sum: 2 and 2 make 4, 4 and 4 make 8.
- After every move, a new 2 or 4 appears in an empty square.
- Build the winning tile to finish. You can keep going for a higher score.
The game ends when the board is full and no move can merge any tiles.
How does scoring work?
Every merge adds the new tile's value to your score. Merging two 64 tiles adds 128. Your best score saves on this device, and your current board saves too, so you can close the page and come back.
What is the best strategy?
- Pick a corner. Keep your biggest tile in one corner, such as bottom left, and build around it.
- Fill the edge row. Keep the row along that corner full so the big tile cannot move out of place.
- Use mostly two directions. Down and left, for example. Use a third only when you must.
- Build a chain. Line up tiles in falling order next to the corner: 512, 256, 128. Then they merge one into the next.
- Do not chase small merges. A move that merges two 2s but pulls your big tile out of the corner costs more than it gains.
Where does the game come from?
The game was created by Gabriele Cirulli, a young web developer in Italy, who released it as free open source code. It was inspired by earlier sliding tile games and became a worldwide hit within weeks.
At a glance
| Board | 4 by 4, sixteen squares |
| New tiles | A 2 nine times in ten, a 4 one time in ten |
| Goal | Build the top tile by merging pairs |
| Fewest moves to win | About 930, since each move adds 2.2 points of tiles on average and the board needs 2,048 |
| Saves | Your board and best score save on this device |