How to Play 2048

THE PLAYBOOK · WHWYBK

How to play 2048

The WHWYBK guide to 2048 starts with understand the boundary. Your task is to reach a 2048 tile, then continue as long as a legal move remains. A full board with no adjacent equal tiles ends the round. Use the controls below and follow the example to get started.

Understand the boundary

Check the edition notes and play mode. A local game, a computer opponent and remote multiplayer are different features.

Your goal

Reach a 2048 tile, then continue as long as a legal move remains. A full board with no adjacent equal tiles ends the round.

Step by step

1. Move the board using an arrow key, swipe, or a direction button.
2. Equal adjacent tiles combine once per move; their new value is added to your score.
3. Keep an empty lane where possible. Undo reverses the most recent move.
4. Use New round to begin with two tiles.

Controls

Use arrow keys, swipe across the board, or tap the four direction buttons.

A useful example

Moving [2, 2, 2, 2] left produces [4, 4, 0, 0], not [8, 0, 0, 0]. Each tile merges at most once in that move.

Watch out for this

A swipe that leaves the board unchanged does not add a new tile.

Common questions