2048

2048

Screenshot of the original browser version.

Developer Gabriele Cirulli Publisher Gabriele Cirulli Published 2014-03-09 Platforms Android, Browser, iOS Genres Block pusher, Casual, Passive puzzle, Puzzle, Single-screen Distribution Freeware

2048 is a block pusher passive puzzle video game developed by Gabriele Cirulli and published for the browser on 2014-03-09. It is based on the the game Threes! Because the developer released it as open source, it has since been ported to dozens of other platforms, including several 8-bit platforms.

The game is played on a 4x4 grid and tile with a numeric value can appear in any grid space. Each turn, the player must slide all tiles as far as they can go to the left, right, top or bottom of the grid. Any tiles which collide with a tile of matching value will combine and double their value, but tiles of a different value cannot overlap. At the end of each move, a 2 or 4 tile is randomly placed in an open space in the grid. The objective is keep merging tiles to create a tile with a value of 2048. However, you lose when the gird becomes full of tiles and you cannot merge any.

Personal

Own?	No. This game was never sold.
Won?	Rockbox: 2048 with a 1024 / Browser: 2048.
Finished	Rockbox: 2016-11-30 / Browser: 2022-10-19.

I think I remember seeing screenshots of 2048 not too long after it became a very popular online game. However, I didn't play it until it was added to Rockbox. I played it several times until I developed a working strategy, and finally reached 2048. Curious to see what would happen if I hit 4096, I kept playing, but, at my best I could only ever get was 2048 and a 1024. Later, I found the original online version and beat it as well.

Review

4	4	2	1	5

Best Version: Browser

— This section contains spoilers! —

Good

• As puzzle games go, this one is quite effective. It's easy to learn, but a winning strategy isn't obvious. And, while a good strategy will take you far, the random element ensure that some games will still end prematurely.

Bad

• Due to its simplicity, there isn't much to the game. While you may come back to it many times, it won't have much affect on you.

Ugly

• The game is very media challenged with only primitive graphics and no sound effects or music.

Media

Icon

• 

  App icon.

Play Online

Browser

Screenshots

• 

  Web - New game.

• 

  128.

• 

  512.

• 

  1024.

• 

  Victory!

Representation

Strong female character?	Fail	There are no characters.
Bechdel test?	Fail	There are no characters.
Strong person of color character?	Fail	There are no characters.
Queer character?	Fail	There are no characters.

Links