It was the other way round. If you see the bottom of the 2048 page (https://gabrielecirulli.github.io/2048/ https://gabrielecirulli.github.io/2048/), it is ment

It was the other way round. If you see the bottom of the 2048 page (https://gabrielecirulli.github.io/2048/ https://gabrielecirulli.github.io/2048/), it is mentioned that "Created by Gabriele Cirulli. Based on 1024 by Veewo Studio and conceptually similar to Threes by Asher Vollmer." 2048 was created over a weekend and is actually a very poorly designed game but went viral, arguably because of HN. The 2048 craze prompted the creators of Threes to publish this incredibly detailed and lengthy writeup on the creative process of Threes: http://asherv.com/threes/threemails http://asherv.com/threes/threemails. Threes, on the other hand, is truly a very well-executed piece of art and magnificently designed. The developer of 2048 wrote a post about his viral success here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7704800 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7704800 (couldn't find the article as it has since been removed). Kudos to him for giving credit. At the end of the day, both games left their mark on the games industry and is an excellent example on the effect of cloning and virality.