How to play 2048
Each direction moves the whole board. Matching numbers that meet combine into a larger tile: 2 and 2 make 4, then 4 and 4 make 8. Plan around the board that the move leaves behind, rather than only the merge directly in front of you.
Click inside the embedded board before using the arrow keys. On a touch screen, swipe on the board itself. The surrounding page can still scroll when your gesture starts outside the game.
A corner strategy you can practise
Choose a corner for your largest tile. Try keeping the next-largest values beside it so that smaller tiles have a route towards that edge. This gives your moves a purpose and makes it easier to spot when a large tile is about to become isolated.
Treat this as a habit, not a guaranteed solution. A move that keeps the largest tile in place can still fill the board. Before every swipe, check both the merge you want and the empty spaces you will lose.
When the board feels stuck
Look for matching neighbours before starting over. A full board can still have a legal move if an adjacent pair can merge. When no move remains, the game offers a new attempt; there is no need to restart the entire player window.
The classic edition is a different choice from versions with power-ups, undo buttons or larger boards. This page runs a locally hosted copy of Gabriele Cirulli’s classic open-source 2048 under the MIT license, with the original game logic. A search for 8×8 or an undo variant describes another ruleset.
Your board and your bookmark are different
The heart on a game picture keeps its page link in this browser. The 2048 board stores its own position and best score here when local storage is available. Use the same browser profile when you return; clearing website data or using a private window can remove that record.
The fullscreen icon expands this same iframe without starting over. Restart and Close are kept in the three-dot menu because they replace the window. The New game control inside the board starts another attempt within the game itself.
Game source: gabrielecirulli.github.io
