# How do you play this puzzle game? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 21, 2014, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-play-this-puzzle-game/684247 "2014-03-21T20:53:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-play-this-puzzle-game/684247/1 "2014-03-21T20:53:53Z")
[This game](http://gabrielecirulli.github.io/2048/) has been making the rounds but I don’t understand the rules or what the objective is. The instructions say > [@](#): > > Join the numbers and get to the 2048 tile! 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? ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-play-this-puzzle-game/684247/2 "2014-03-21T20:56:41Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-play-this-puzzle-game/684247/3 "2014-03-21T21:00:03Z")
> [@gazpacho](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-play-this-puzzle-game/684247/4 "2014-03-21T21:01:27Z")
OK, but what are the rules for how the tiles move when I press an arrow key? It seems completely indecipherable to me. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-play-this-puzzle-game/684247/5 "2014-03-21T21:06:44Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > 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”). ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-play-this-puzzle-game/684247/6 "2014-03-21T21:12:33Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > OK, but what are the rules for how the tiles move when I press an arrow key? It seems completely indecipherable to me. Imagine the board is a frictionless surface and your moves tilt the whole board one way or another. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-play-this-puzzle-game/684247/7 "2014-03-21T21:15:24Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > 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”). Ah ha! Now it makes sense. I wasn’t picking up on the fact that like tiles add when they move. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-play-this-puzzle-game/684247/8 "2014-03-21T21:22:03Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-play-this-puzzle-game/684247/9 "2014-03-21T21:22:08Z")
[Threes](http://asherv.com/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. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-play-this-puzzle-game/684247/10 "2014-03-21T21:40:59Z")
I just scored 2436. Is that good? ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-play-this-puzzle-game/684247/11 "2014-03-21T21:43:00Z")
> [@Peanuthead](#): > > I just scored 2436. Is that good? No. But scoring isn’t actually the point - getting a 2048 block is! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-play-this-puzzle-game/684247/12 "2014-03-21T21:43:43Z")
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](http://xkcd.com/1344/). ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-play-this-puzzle-game/684247/13 "2014-03-21T21:47:26Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > 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](http://xkcd.com/1344/). You’re not trying to get 2048 points. You’re trying to get a block that is 2048. A 1024 + a 1024. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-play-this-puzzle-game/684247/14 "2014-03-21T22:06:25Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > 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](http://xkcd.com/1344/). Invaluable explain xkcd [link.](http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-play-this-puzzle-game/684247/15 "2014-03-21T22:15:33Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > No. But scoring isn’t actually the point - getting a 2048 block is! 🙂 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 ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-play-this-puzzle-game/684247/16 "2014-03-21T22:51:02Z")
Moved to the Game Room. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2014, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-play-this-puzzle-game/684247/17 "2014-03-22T00:41:45Z")
Oh man. I see now why everyone is saying this is the most addictive thing since Tetris. I managed to [get up to 256](http://imgur.com/gsytxTL) before running out of space. Time for a break. I have a feeling this will be a rather unproductive weekend. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2014, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-play-this-puzzle-game/684247/18 "2014-03-22T00:43:18Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > You’re not trying to get 2048 points. You’re trying to get a block that is 2048. A 1024 + a 1024. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2014, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-play-this-puzzle-game/684247/19 "2014-03-22T01:06:14Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > 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 ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2014, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-play-this-puzzle-game/684247/20 "2014-03-22T01:56:13Z")
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? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-play-this-puzzle-game/684247.md?page=2)