How to Play 2048
You can learn how to play 2048 in one minute: slide tiles, merge equal numbers, reach the 2048 tile. But a few of the exact rules - how merges resolve, when tiles spawn, what ends the game - surprise even experienced players. Here is the complete ruleset, as implemented in the original game and faithfully in ours.
Learn It by Doing: The 2-Minute Tutorial
Five guided steps on one live board. It never resets, so everything you build carries forward.
The Board and the Controls
The classic game is played on a 4x4 grid that starts with two tiles. Every move slides all tiles as far as they can go in one direction - you never move a single tile.
- Desktop: arrow keys or WASD (vim's HJKL works too). R starts a new game, Z undoes a move.
- Phone or tablet: swipe up, down, left, or right on the board.
The Merge Rule
When two tiles with the same number collide during a slide, they merge into one tile worth their sum, and your score increases by that sum. The subtlety is the one-merge-per-move rule: a tile that was just created by a merge is locked for the rest of that move.
Merges also resolve in order, starting from the side you swiped toward. Swipe a 2-2-2 row to the left and the two leftmost tiles merge, leaving 4-2, never 2-4.
Tile Spawning
After every move that actually changes the board, exactly one new tile appears in a random empty cell: a 2 with 90% probability, a 4 with 10%. Two consequences worth knowing: a swipe that moves nothing spawns nothing (it is a free "pass" that does not exist - the move simply doesn't happen), and every real move costs you one empty cell unless it contained a merge.
Winning, Losing, and Keeping On
Build the 2048 tile and you win - with the option to Keep Going on the same board toward 4096 and beyond. You lose only when the board is full and no adjacent tiles match. That second condition matters:
Scoring
Score = the sum of every merged tile you have ever created this game. Merging two 64s adds 128 points. Nothing else scores: not sliding, not spawning, not time. This means big tiles represent compounding points - the journey to a single 2048 tile earns roughly 20,000 points across all its intermediate merges.
That is the entire rulebook. When you are ready to go from playing to winning, the strategy guide covers the corner method and snake chain with diagrams.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the goal of 2048?
Combine equal tiles until you create a tile worth 2048. Two 2s make a 4, two 4s make an 8, and so on: ten doublings from 2 to 2048. After winning you may keep playing for even larger tiles.
Why did my two pairs not merge into one tile?
Because of the one-merge-per-move rule: a tile created by a merge cannot merge again during that same move. A row of 2-2-2-2 swiped left becomes 4-4, not 8. The two new 4s can merge on your NEXT move.
Where do the new tiles come from?
After every move that changes the board, exactly one new tile appears in a random empty cell: a 2 about 90% of the time, a 4 about 10% of the time. If your swipe changes nothing, nothing spawns.
How does scoring work in 2048?
Your score increases by the value of every tile created by a merge. Merging two 8s scores 16 points; sliding tiles without merging scores nothing. Building a 2048 tile from scratch earns about 20,000 points along the way.
When is the game over?
Only when the board is completely full AND no two neighboring tiles are equal. A full board is not necessarily a lost board - if any adjacent pair matches, you can still move.