2048 is a single-player sliding tile puzzle. The goal is to combine numbered tiles until you create the 2048 tile. The game was created by Italian developer Gabriele Cirulli in March 2014 and quickly became one of the most-played browser games of all time.
This guide teaches you the rules, the controls, and the basic strategy. You'll be playing in under 5 minutes.
Ready to play?
▶ Play 2048 NowThe rules in 7 steps
1. Open the board
The 4×4 grid starts with two tiles already placed. They are usually both 2s, but one might be a 4. New tiles spawn after every move: 90% are 2, 10% are 4. There are no other values at the start.
2. Swipe or press a direction
You control all the tiles at once. Press one of the four arrow keys (↑ ↓ ← →) or W A S D. On a phone, swipe your finger in any of the four directions.
3. Tiles slide as far as they can
Every tile on the board slides in that direction until it hits the edge of the grid or collides with another tile. There is no friction and no in-between stopping. A tile either reaches the edge, or stops just before another tile.
4. Tiles merge when two of the same value collide
If two tiles with the same number end up next to each other after sliding, they merge into one tile whose value is the sum. A 2 and a 2 become a 4. A 4 and a 4 become an 8. And so on, doubling each time.
Two important rules for merges:
- Each tile merges at most once per move. In a row like
[2, 2, 2, 2], only the leftmost two 2s merge. The next two merge separately. Result:[4, 4, 0, 0], never[8, 0, 0, 0]. - Order matters. Merges happen left-to-right (or in the direction of motion). A row like
[2, 2, 4, 4]becomes[4, 8, 0, 0], not[8, 4, 0, 0].
When tiles merge, your score increases by the value of the new tile. Merging two 4s gives you an 8 and 8 points.
5. A new tile spawns
After every successful move, exactly one new tile appears in a random empty cell. It's a 2 90% of the time and a 4 10% of the time. (This 90/10 split is part of why 2048 stays challenging — every now and then a 4 throws off your neat rows.)
6. Reach 2048 to win
Combine tiles up the doubling chain — 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048 — to win. You can keep playing past 2048 for higher scores: 4096, 8192, 16384, even higher. Each doubling is exponentially harder.
7. Don't fill the board
The game ends when the board is completely full AND no two adjacent tiles (horizontally or vertically) can merge. If you have one empty cell, you can still continue. As soon as every cell is filled with no possible merges, the game-over overlay appears.
Controls cheat-sheet
↑↓←→(orWASD) — move all tilesZ— undo your last move (yes, this version supports it!)N— start a new game- Swipe up/down/left/right on touch screens
What happens if I make an invalid move?
If you press an arrow key but no tile can move in that direction (for example the whole board is already packed against the right edge and you press right), nothing happens. No new tile spawns. Your score doesn't change. So you can press keys freely without penalty.
Ready to play?
Once you have the basics down, head to our strategy guide for the corner-stacking and snake patterns used by top players. Or jump straight to the FAQ for answers to common questions.