This game has been making the rounds but I don’t understand the rules or what the objective is. The instructions say
So I press some arrow keys and tiles move around and sometimes double in value, in an apparently non-random fashion. But what am I supposed to do?
You are supposed to try and get one tile up to 2048 before all the tiles have filled in.
When two tiles of the same value slide into each other they get added together.
Yep. That seems to be it. I got a tile to 512 on the first time around before running out of moves.
OK, but what are the rules for how the tiles move when I press an arrow key? It seems completely indecipherable to me.
The all move as far as they can in the direction you press, and any “likes” combine into their multiple (so it there’s two 2s, they merge into a “4”).
Imagine the board is a frictionless surface and your moves tilt the whole board one way or another.
Ah ha! Now it makes sense. I wasn’t picking up on the fact that like tiles add when they move.
Second time, I did a little better, but still only up to 512. Dammit.
Also, if you have three of the same number in a row, say 2 2 x 2, and then push left, it’s the leftmost that get added together, so you’ll end up with 4 2 x x. If you press right, you’ll get x x 2 4.
Threes was the original one of these games. That one makes a bit more sense since the tiles only move once space when you slide them and you can seem them merging together.
I just scored 2436. Is that good?
No. But scoring isn’t actually the point - getting a 2048 block is! 
It’s just too “random” for my tastes. I see something 1 move away, and then bop, stuff has shifted out of position due to the next move. Ugh.
1360 on my first try. More than halfway there.
Obligatory xkcd link.
You’re not trying to get 2048 points. You’re trying to get a block that is 2048. A 1024 + a 1024.
Invaluable explain xkcd link.
Aha! Now I get it. The objective is to get a single tile to 2048. Man, I got a long way to go. 
Thanks Zipper
Moved to the Game Room.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
Oh man. I see now why everyone is saying this is the most addictive thing since Tetris.
I managed to get up to 256 before running out of space. Time for a break.
I have a feeling this will be a rather unproductive weekend.
Ah! I didn’t even notice there was a score! I was just going for the 2048 block.
ETA: It looks like it saves the scores. My high from the two games I played was 6096 apparently.
Me too… I just got a 1024 block, and noticing that there is a score, I got 10,416
That puzzle is cool! Of course, I haven’t gone past the 256 block, but it’s still fun. So, given that there is a score computed for those of us who haven’t managed to hit the target tile, what’s the score for those who do hit it?