How Does 2048 Work?

Use arrow keys (or WASD) on desktop, or swipe on mobile, to slide all tiles in one direction at once. When two tiles with the same number collide they merge into a single tile worth double the value - And you earn that many points.

The core loop

After every move a new tile (value 2 or 4) appears in a random empty cell. The game continues until no legal moves remain: the board is completely full and no two adjacent tiles share the same value. Reaching the 2048 tile is the nominal win condition, but the game does not end there - You can keep playing toward 4096, 8192, and beyond.

Scoring

Every merge adds the value of the newly created tile to your score. Merging two 32-tiles adds 64 points. Merging two 1024-tiles adds 2048. Because the values double at each merge level, later merges are worth exponentially more than early ones.

Available grid sizes on 2048.now

The original game uses a 4×4 grid. 2048.now also offers 5×5 Large and 6×6 Expert grids, each with its own global leaderboard and separate ranked season.