Free 2048, no sign-up
2048 is a sliding number game you can play online for free, with nothing to install and no account. The board is 4 squares by 4. Every move slides all the tiles one way, equal numbers join together, and a new tile drops into an empty square. Keep joining until you make a tile worth 2048.
Play with the arrow keys, W, A, S and D, or a swipe on a phone or tablet. Your game is saved in this browser after every move, so you can close the tab and carry on later.
How to play
- Every move slides all the tiles as far as they go in one direction: up, down, left or right.
- Two tiles with the same number that slide into each other join into one tile worth their sum, and the sum is added to your score. A tile joins only once per move.
- After each move that changes the board, a new 2 (or, one time in ten, a 4) appears in a random empty square. A move that changes nothing doesn’t count, and no tile appears.
- Make a 2048 tile to win. You can keep going after that for a higher score.
- The game ends when the board is full and no two touching tiles are equal.
Scoring
Each join adds the new tile’s value to your score: two 8s make 16 and score 16. Big tiles are worth far more than they look, because every join that built them was scored on the way. A 2048 tile made only from 2s has earned 20,480 points by the time it appears. Your best score and your highest tile are kept in Statistics.
Strategy
Keep your biggest tile in a corner
Pick a corner, say the bottom left, and keep your largest tile there for the whole game. A big tile in the middle splits the board and blocks the small tiles from reaching each other.
Mostly use two directions
To keep that corner, play mostly down and left, use right when you need to, and press up only when nothing else moves. Up pulls the corner tile out and lets a new 2 drop in behind it.
Keep rows in order
Line up the bottom row from largest to smallest away from the corner, for example 256, 128, 64, 32. When a tile next in line arrives, the whole row folds into the corner one join at a time. Players call this keeping the row monotonic: each tile is no bigger than the one before it.
Build a snake
When the bottom row is full, carry the order on into the row above, running the other way, so the tiles snake back and forth across the board. The smallest tiles end up farthest from the corner, where the new ones appear.
Look at where the new tile can land
Before a move, think about which squares it leaves empty. A new 2 landing in your corner row can wreck the order, so prefer moves that keep the gaps away from it. Don’t rush small joins either: sometimes leaving two 4s apart keeps the board in shape.
Undo
Want a second chance? Turn on Undo in Settings to take back your last move. The tile that appeared after it comes back in the same place if you make the same move again, and a game that uses undo doesn’t count toward your best score or highest tile.
Keyboard
| Arrow keys | Slide the tiles |
|---|---|
| W, A, S, D | Slide up, left, down, right |
Questions
What happens after 2048?
Choose Keep going and the game carries on: 4096, 8192 and beyond, for as long as you can still move. The win shows only once per game.
Is 2048 luck or skill?
Both. Where each new tile lands, and whether it’s a 2 or a 4, is random. How you arrange the board decides whether those tiles help or hurt, which is why the corner strategy wins far more often than random moves.
What is the highest tile possible?
On a 4 by 4 board the largest tile you can make is 131,072, and only if the right new tiles are 4s. Reaching 4096 or 8192 is already a very good game.
Can I play on my phone?
Yes. Swipe on the board in the direction you want the tiles to go. Swipes that start on the board never scroll the page.
Where is my game kept?
Only in this browser: the game in progress, your settings and your statistics. Nothing is sent anywhere, and clearing your browser’s site data removes them.
Who made 2048?
Gabriele Cirulli created 2048 in 2014 and shared it as open source. This version is written from scratch for El Trivia, with the same rules.
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