2048 Guide
Slide and merge numbered tiles to reach 2048, with undo, best score and keyboard or swipe controls.
2048 is a four-by-four sliding-tile puzzle. Equal numbered tiles that meet merge into one larger tile; each successful slide adds a new 2 or 4. Reach 2048 to see a win message, but you can continue playing.
Make your first move
Open the game: Score starts at 0 and two numbered tiles appear on the board. Press an arrow key (or W, A, S, D, or swipe on touch) to slide the tiles. The board changes only if a tile can move or merge. If two 2 tiles merge, they form 4 and Score increases by 4; the starting positions are random, so the first move may be different for you. Undo restores the board and score from the last successful move. New game resets the board and score.
Best is saved in this browser’s local storage, even when you start a new game. Clearing site data removes it. Nothing is uploaded; this is not a shared leaderboard.
Where your input goes
Processing runs in your browser. The tool does not upload your input to ilham.dev.
Related guide
For more background, read Browser Games and Practice Tools.
Questions you might have
- How does merging work?
- A move slides every tile as far as it will go in that direction. Two tiles of the same value that meet merge into one tile of double the value, and a tile that has already merged once in a move cannot merge again. That single-merge rule is why sliding left can pair the first two tiles but leave the third of a triple alone.
- Where is my best score kept?
- In this browser’s local storage, under a key that belongs to this page. It survives reloads and never leaves your device. Clearing site data resets it.
- What does undo do?
- It steps back exactly one move, including the score you gained and the random tile that appeared. There is only one level of undo, so use it to recover from a mis-swipe rather than to rewind a whole game.
- Why did the game end when I still had empty squares?
- This implementation ends the round only when no empty cell remains and no adjacent pair can merge. If there is an empty cell, another move is still possible somewhere—even if the direction you just pressed did nothing.
- Is there a strategy?
- Most strong players keep their largest tile in one corner and build a descending chain along two edges, never moving the corner tile away. Deciding early which corner that is matters more than any single merge.