2048 Game: play online free, with a daily challenge

Slide the tiles, merge equal numbers and build a 2048 tile. Play the daily game, the same for everyone, or practise on boards from 3×3 to 6×6.

How to play

Swipe on the board, press the arrow keys (or W A S D), or use the arrow buttons below the board.
All tiles slide that way. Equal tiles that bump into each other merge, and a new 2 or 4 appears in an empty square.
Keep merging to make bigger numbers. Reach 2048 to win, and keep going if you like.

How merging works

Each tile merges only once per move, and tiles nearest the wall merge first. Worked out by the same code as the game, sliding a row to the left:

2, 2, 4, 8 becomes 4, 4, 8 (the two 2s make a 4, which doesn't merge again this move), scoring 4.
2, 2, 2, 2 becomes 4, 4, scoring 8.

Tips

Pick a corner and keep your biggest tile there. Mostly use two directions (say left and down), a third when you must, and the fourth almost never.
Keep the row along your corner full, so the big tile can't be pushed out of it.
Build a chain of falling values next to the big tile (1024, 512, 256…) so merges run into the corner.
On a 3 × 3 board space runs out fast; 5 × 5 and 6 × 6 are gentler and allow bigger tiles.

More number games: the sliding number puzzle and the daily math puzzle.

Frequently asked questions

How do you play 2048?

Swipe (or press an arrow key) to slide every tile as far as it goes. Two tiles with the same number that meet merge into one with their sum, and a new 2 or 4 appears after each move. Reach a 2048 tile to win; the game ends when the board is full and nothing can merge.

What happens after I reach 2048?

You can stop or keep going for 4096 and beyond. Your score keeps counting until no move is left.

How is the score counted?

Each merge adds the new tile's value to your score: two 8s merging into a 16 add 16. The best score for each board size is saved on this device.

What is the daily challenge?

Everyone gets the same starting tiles on the same date, and the same new tile appears for the same move, so scores are fair to compare. The daily game has no undo; practice games do, on 3×3, 4×4, 5×5 or 6×6 boards.

Who made 2048?

The original 2048 was made by Gabriele Cirulli in 2014 and released as open-source software. This version is our own code, written for this site, with the same well-known rules.

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