15 ms·

Show HN: 2048 turned 10 this year, I built an updated version to celebrate

669 points by terabytest 2y ago

Hi all! My name is Gabriele Cirulli, I’m the original creator of 2048. Ten years ago, someone posted 2048 on HN[1] and suddenly it seemed like everyone was playing it. Back then, I wrote a bit about my experience during those weeks[2]. Even after all these years, that experience still feels a bit surreal to me. I’m deeply grateful to everyone who connected with the game, whether in small or significant ways, and for the stories shared along the way. Some people expressed how they were going through tough times and found some comfort, however small, in playing 2048. At the start of last year, I wanted to breathe new life into the game as it was starting to show its age. I quit my job last October to work on 2048 full time and spent a year building this new version (the original took just 5 days!). I wanted to pay tribute to what made 2048 great while modernizing and polishing the experience. The idea of adding powerups came when Prime Gaming and I connected to see if we could create a special version of 2048 for their members, with some exclusive extras. Some of those powerups made it into the main game, though there’s still a Classic[3] mode just like the original for those who prefer a more hardcore experience. The old site is also still online[4]. 2048 is now my full-time focus, and I’m excited about the ways it can keep improving. I wanted to share this update with the community where it all began, both for a bit of nostalgia and to hear your thoughts and feedback! Thank you all so much! — Gabriele [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7373566 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7373566 [2]: https://medium.com/@gabrielecirulli/2048-success-and-me-7dc664f7a9bd https://medium.com/@gabrielecirulli/2048-success-and-me-7dc6... [3]: https://play2048.co/classic https://play2048.co/classic [4]: https://classic.play2048.co https://classic.play2048.co

mppm 2y ago
The original 2048 was pretty cool, but damn, this improved version is just insultingly easy... and with a freemium option of course. I guess it captures the spirit of our times pretty well, though.
hashtekar 2y ago
Just to note to say thanks. Never have I played anything that gives me so much satisfaction. I found I had some weird aptitude for it.
navent 2y ago
Was a fun game, I still remember trying it back then!
iainmerrick 2y ago
For those who haven't heard of Threes, I highly recommend giving it a try. It's the original game that 1024, 2048 etc were cloned from (and I think it's still the best by far). Wikipedia has a good summary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threes#Legacy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threes#Legacy
- lanthade 2y ago
  I still play Threes regularly. It’s super accessible but still remains challenging after years of play. I even occasionally still set a new high score.
  - Ringz 2y ago
    It’s exactly the same for me. Threes never gets boring. I can almost finish 2048 every time. For me, that’s the definition of boring.
- rubslopes 2y ago
  Here's a great blog post from the Threes dev about their creation process and the impact of the rip-offs: https://asherv.com/threes/threemails/ https://asherv.com/threes/threemails/
  - mysterydip 2y ago
    I love being able to see the prototype evolution of the game on here. Thanks for sharing!
  - zahlman 2y ago
    >2048 is a broken game. Something we noticed about this kind of system early on (that you'll see hidden in the emails below). We wanted players to be able to play Threes over many months, if not years. We both beat 2048 on our first tries. We’d wager most people that have been able to score a 768 or even a 384 in Threes would be able to do the same using the fabled “corner strategy”. You probably could too! Just try tapping “up” then “right” in alternating order until you can’t move. Then press left. You may not get to a 2048, but you might just see your highest score ever. >When an automated script that alternates pressing up and right and left every hundreth time can beat the game, then well, that's broken. From my experience, this greatly overstates the "exploit". In 2048 you get to maybe 128 this way typically before you can't move up/right any more, then you have to start thinking after the left press. Basically whenever you slide away from the "preferred" corner, supposing your plan is to slide back promptly, there's always a chance that a random spawn gets in your way and complicates the plan. Getting to 2048 on the first try doesn't sound like a modal experience at all. (Of course, most new 2048 players won't have had the experience of developing Threes first.) For that matter, the developer talks about how rare it is to see a 6144, but doesn't seem to acknowledge that reaching a 4096 in 2048 is far more difficult than reaching 2048. At any rate, it's not at all immediately clear why having the player join 1+2 first before making blocks of 3*2^n, should noticeably improve the gameplay over having only powers of two. So IMO it's not that the gameplay of 2048 is fundamentally less interesting; the implementation just sets a lower standard. (Though for what it's worth, I've wondered how it might go with the Fibonacci sequence - allowing 1s to merge either with 2s or other 1s.)
wiether 2y ago
> suddenly it seemed like everyone was playing it That's exactly how I remember it, yes. It started with only the tech people, but then it spread to all coworkers, friends, grandparents... Anyway, congrats on this game but I won't fall in the same trap as 10 years prior, wasting hours upon hours of productivity!
- mgarciaisaia 2y ago
  > I won't fall in the same trap as 10 years prior, wasting hours upon hours of productivity! One day later, did you succeed in that?
simonebrunozzi 2y ago
Bravo Gabriele, 2048 was an amazing piece of design and UI. Loved it. You did amazing work.
speps 2y ago
Always interesting to hear the other side of the story: https://asherv.com/threes/threemails/ https://asherv.com/threes/threemails/ HN thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7484106 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7484106
Twelveday 2y ago
It seems like there's a little pay to win even in a simple game like 2048 nowadays :)
deleted 2y ago
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red_admiral 2y ago
Congratulations! "Powerups with Amazon Prime" sounds like the famous bug report that grep (I think) should search on Amazon if it doesn't find the string locally, which was submitted IIRC in protest at the Ubuntu "lens" doing just that.
abcd_f 2y ago
[flagged]
- npinsker 2y ago
  He mentions Threes! prominently in both link [1] and link [2].
  - abcd_f 2y ago
    [flagged]
    - jckahn 2y ago
      What’s the problem, exactly? Is there some stated HN rule that requires a developer to clearly state the inspiration for their work?
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
- terabytest 2y ago
  I wanted to address this, because I understand where you come from. Threes is actually credited in the about page[1] on play2048.co. The frustration is completely understandable, as Threes is definitely where the concept originated. Due to the chain of derivative games that led to the creation of 2048, I had not seen or heard of Threes until after it went viral. I think the inspiration Threes provided, although valid, is somewhat indirect in the case of 2048. I did try my best to reflect this in the about page and when I talked about my experience here[2]. I noticed there's no mention of it on GitHub, so I'll add it there. I am happy to do better given the feedback, but I'm not sure what kind of improvement I could make here. Let me know [1]: https://play2048.co/about https://play2048.co/about [2]: https://medium.com/@gabrielecirulli/2048-success-and-me-7dc664f7a9bd https://medium.com/@gabrielecirulli/2048-success-and-me-7dc6...
  - abcd_f 2y ago
    [flagged]
abcd_f 2y ago
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- mass_and_energy 2y ago
  Why is everybody saying this when the game mechanic of 2048 is fundamentally different. The difference in play between swiping over one tile at a time VS swiping and moving all tiles to one side is a big difference. Furthermore, the author didn't know Threes existed when they made it, so calling it a "blatant rip" is rudely false. Let's lift each other up instead of pushing each other down.
- jasonlotito 2y ago
  And Threes is a blatant rip off of other games before it as much as 2048 is of Threes. Let's go down that rabbit hole.
  - MattRix 2y ago
    [flagged]
    - The-Bus 2y ago
      Forget it, Jack, it's Tripletown.
      - MattRix 2y ago
        Triple Town was great in its own right, but the games are very different and have lots of different mechanics. Nobody would argue that Threes is as similar to Triple Town as 2048 is to Threes.
- samatman 2y ago
  2048 is a better game, which is why it's 100x or more popular than Threes. I'm sure that you, a connoisseur, greatly prefer Threes, which is great. It can be fun to have a taste which is that of a very small minority. But, to state the nearly tautological, the difference in popularity is because 2048 is better, in the view of the vast majority. It's more fun to play, and that's what makes a game good.
turnsout 2y ago
[flagged]
WesleyLivesay 2y ago
uBlock Origin blocks 330 items on that page, which I think is a personal record for the sites I have been to.
- maximegarcia 2y ago
  Consent banner says data sent to "901 partners"... I like the game though, but I use the PWA made by Opera team at https://2048-opera-pwa.surge.sh/ https://2048-opera-pwa.surge.sh/
npinsker 2y ago
There are a lot of comments mentioning Threes! and holding it up as superior. I play a lot of games, and I greatly prefer Threes myself -- but I also remember very well when 2048 came out; I was in college, and 75% or more of my dorm had no interest in Threes and preferred playing and remixing 2048. Threes is very stressful and intense, while 2048 goes straight for your brain's pleasure centers, like many other mobile games nowadays. There's value in that. There's massive value in 2048 that Threes! does not capture. Just because someone spends a lot of time designing something, it does not entitle them to attention or praise. Many great artists get famous for works they absolutely hate. Gabriele has been consistently courteous about all of this for 10 years, and I'd suggest people here could be a bit more courteous to him too.
- bryanlarsen 2y ago
  To me, Threes poorly straddles the middle ground between a "real game" and a "time filler". If I want a "real game" I'll play Factorio or something. When I need a break from mental work I can pull 2048. I rarely want anything in between.
  - MattRix 2y ago
    Lots of people do want that “middle ground” game, especially people who exclusively play games on mobile rather than PC or console.
    - bryanlarsen 2y ago
      [flagged]
      - MattRix 2y ago
        [flagged]
        dspillett 2y ago
        An opinion was stated. An opinion that will no doubt be agreed with by many, me for one. But absolutely no claim was made that it is correct for all people. Or even most people. To answer your sort-of question: > Ok? But lots of people do want that “middle ground” game… Those lots of people can play threes, or other games that exist in such a middle ground. Not every game needs to support every play style, nor does every person need to like every game. Or to be facetious and answer you in your own style: > Ok? But lots of people do want that “middle ground” game… OK? But lots of people don't want the “middle ground” game, especially people who like more complex games on desktop/console and only simpler time-fillers on mobile. Or even more so: > Ok? But lots of people do want that “middle ground” game… Yes… and?
jmclnx 2y ago
2048 is only 10 years old, I am shocked. I found it a while ago when looking for the source of xjumpjump and instantly liked it. Thanks for creating 2048. Every so often I try and see if xjumpjump is available on cell phones, but none yet.
MzHN 2y ago
Sometimes I have trouble listening without my thoughts drifting elsewhere. I found out that playing a Tetris clone that never increases in speed and never ends is a good way to keep a clear focus on listening. After changing phones recently my perfect Tetris clone stopped working as it was 32bit and the support was dropped. I've been looking for an alternative and finally found one in a 2048 clone with an Undo button. I thank you for that. It has saved me a lot of trouble staying focused!
nicole_express 2y ago
Congrats on the 10 year anniversary, though honestly I think having tried your new 2048 I'll go back to the classic build. It might just be the hours I've poured into the original but it feels faster without the additional animation. But still a lot of good work there and I'm wishing you the best of luck. As for the argument about Threes!, I have to say that I've generally found 2048 to be a much more fun game; the full-screen sliding and the lack of the 1+2 mechanic makes things move much faster, which for me is a priority. That's definitely personal taste, but I hate the vitriol that comes up on the topic.
mega_dean 2y ago
Interesting to see the times for speedruns of this game: https://www.speedrun.com/2048 https://www.speedrun.com/2048 2048: 24s 4096: 1m 37s 8192: 4m 53s 16384: 13m 34s 32768: 55m 24s
- askvictor 2y ago
  I can't quite comprehend how a human would be able to achieve 24s
  - rcarmo 2y ago
    There is a factor of luck here. I can usually get to 128 or 256 in that time, but it really depends on whether you focus on doubling up a single square or cleaning up the board.
    - askvictor 2y ago
      256, sure, but 2048 would take 8 times as long
  - mega_dean 2y ago
    Oh, it's not obvious at all from the UI, but the left-most column is a link to the video of the run: https://www.speedrun.com/2048/runs/zxwdol8m https://www.speedrun.com/2048/runs/zxwdol8m
  - kccqzy 2y ago
    In the early phases of the game, just mashing two adjacent arrow keys (say, left and down) will get you pretty far without any thinking whatsoever. You only need to slow down when the board is about three quarters full.
- thewisenerd 2y ago
  as a former record holder (1m18s, 2015) it's been fascinating to see this number go down over the years
Azrael3000 2y ago
Congratulations on creating such a wonderful game. My wife still plays it, I would claim, daily. I would claim it's part of her evening relaxation :) I will most certainly forward your new developments to her and also try it myself. Good luck with your new job.
bla3 2y ago
Still very fun! I didn't notice anything different from how it was in my memory. That seems like a successful modernization :) I didn't notice that there were power ups until reading your post.
rob74 2y ago
Wow, has it already been ten years? I also wrote a clone of 2048 back then (https://github.com/nieware/gofusion https://github.com/nieware/gofusion), using Go and a QML-based UI, for a contest, and (to my astonishment) actually won the first prize, which consisted of a Nexus 7 tablet (which served me well for several years) and a rare original vinyl Gopher figurine (which is still sitting on my desk looking at me serenely with its googly eyes while I type this).
itchyouch 2y ago
Just downloaded the new classic version with ads and wanted to pass along a suggestion that Thor makes. While I understand that you’ve gotta make a living, ads are far more palatable if the user can consent to them. And the way to make the user a part of the process is to offer a trade for the ad, rather than obtrusively running them. “Would you like 500 gold to watch an ad?” Yes? Ad for in-game currency that provides powerups? That’s a great deal and it’s win/win. No? Okay, no ad, but no power up. Statistically, you almost always get a yes, but the players are 100x happier than the slimey games that force ads in unscrupulous ways.
- terabytest 2y ago
  This is interesting feedback. I always thought that ads being unobtrusive and not part of gameplay would be the saner choice. In my mind, when games ask you to trade watching an add for some kind of in-game benefit or currency, that feels like an unreasonable demand. The ads impinge on the gameplay. The way I've set up the site, ads are tucked in their own corner and should never affect gameplay (though there have been instances of ads spilling over the powerup bar, I'm working on that). Thanks for sharing!
- Suppafly 2y ago
  >And the way to make the user a part of the process is to offer a trade for the ad I think that is a worse pattern overall. It's essentially converting from the idea of watching ads to support the developer to watching ads as a pay to win mechanism. Pay to win mechanisms are always worse than any other alternative.
mass_and_energy 2y ago
I'm disappointed in HN for stomping this person for the game that they made. They had no idea Threes existed, made this game as an experiment, and it went viral. Despite this, they still acknowledge Threes on their site. But they post here and are dogpiled on by people saying they ripped off another game and should feel like a scumbag. That's wrong, let's be kind to each other instead of exhibiting rude behavior that discourages people from pursuing their projects because "it's a ripoff of xyz". This started as an experiment, and is now this person's full time career. Can we instead encourage others to follow? We're not talking about a 1:1 ripoff, we're talking about a game whose gameplay is adjacent to another game. Is Call of Duty a rip-off of Medal of Honor because they're both WWII FPS games?
- The-Bus 2y ago
  Especially when other merge games (Triple Town) existed for years. They're all in the same general genre.
  - Suppafly 2y ago
    >Especially when other merge games (Triple Town) existed for years. That matt guy that's posted like 100 times in this thread doesn't want to hear it, but I've literally only ever heard Threes brought up in comparison to 2048 and Triple Town. No one brings up Threes on their own organically.
- MattRix 2y ago
  "They had no idea Threes existed" This makes it even worse, because it means they ripped off 1024 instead (the game that ripped off Threes). That means they put even less effort into their clone, even the name is a rip off of that game. I genuinely don't get how people here can say "Oh it's just like Call of Duty and Medal of Honor" or say that Triple Town and Threes were similar. Obviously there's a spectrum from inspiration to cloning, but 2048 is so far on the cloning end of that spectrum that the whole comparison seems like a joke.
  - pests 2y ago
andrewmcwatters 2y ago
Hi gab, thanks for sharing. This was fun to play back during our Facepunch era, and it’s still entertaining now.
- Saming 2y ago
  Hello as well from a past Facepunch user, 10 years go by very quickly @Terabytes glad to see your work, the new release is really nice
  - Philpax 2y ago
    Likewise, glad to see fellow former Facepunchers here :-) Great work!
- bpye 2y ago
  I thought I remembered seeing it back on there in the "What are you working on" thread. Was always interesting to scroll through.
nikeee 2y ago
TypeScript was fairly new at that time and to learn it, I ported 2048 to TypeScript. It was fun! Fast forward a couple of years, I was debugging an issue with a react component and glanced over the .d.ts of react. I was quite surprised when I saw that my name was in them. I never contributed to react's types myself. It turned out that someone took some types I wrote for 2048 and used them in the very first type definitions for react: https://github.com/DefinitelyTyped/DefinitelyTyped/commit/4bed0b571c011818db3e05ae0d1ae5b985cda206 https://github.com/DefinitelyTyped/DefinitelyTyped/commit/4b... It's still there to this date, but I've lost my TS port in the sands of time.
andrewf 2y ago
Random thing I noticed last week: there's a version of 2048 buried in the United Airlines iPhone app. Hamburger -> Games -> 2048.
- a_t48 2y ago
  Also in some inflight entertainment systems!
randomblast 2y ago
You know how the distribution of 2-value vs 4-value for new tiles is a weighted random function? And sometimes you get an unlikely 4 that really screw you over? Have you thought about adding a mode which always creates the worst option of the 2? You could call it “God does play dice with the universe. They're loaded and he hates you.”
- amadeuspagel 2y ago
  Like HATETRIS: https://qntm.org/files/hatetris/hatetris.html https://qntm.org/files/hatetris/hatetris.html
- terabytest 2y ago
  I think 2048-AI had this, but I’m not sure. It’d surely be pretty evil. Imagine it turning on randomly when it detects you’re going too fast :)
  - ovolve 2y ago
    Someone forked 2048-AI and added evil mode :) https://sztupy.hu/2048-Hard/ https://sztupy.hu/2048-Hard/ Originating in the StackOverflow comments here https://stackoverflow.com/questions/22342854/what-is-the-optimal-algorithm-for-the-game-2048#comment34137097_22389702 https://stackoverflow.com/questions/22342854/what-is-the-opt... BTW, congrats on the whole thing; what a ride. I remember staying up all night implementing the AI after seeing it here, and the rush of seeing it win the first time, plus the added rush of seeing the AI post right next to the original post on here. Thanks for the fun!
- Jerrrry 2y ago
  Like a Cambodian version of minesweeper.
jnsaff2 2y ago
My favorite version is the wasm implementation written in rust. Source: https://github.com/dev-family/wasm-2048 https://github.com/dev-family/wasm-2048 Playable here: https://2048.dev.family/ https://2048.dev.family/
mbb70 2y ago
My favorite 2048 clone by far is https://ashervollmer.github.io/2048/128.html https://ashervollmer.github.io/2048/128.html, which is just a 3x3 2048 that only spawns 2. I like it because it is possible to achieve total victory, a perfect game fills the board with a a final score of 7172.
igleria 2y ago
Thank you for the entertainment 2048 gave me years ago, hope your new version has the reach you want!
rathboma 2y ago
2048 is fantastic, and going full time on your project is a huge milestone. Congrats!
rzodkiew 2y ago
I've opened the game without reading the post. When I've hovered over the crown and saw the prime stuff I thought it was some kinda' joke or parody. Turns out it isn't. Which I think is even funnier in some meta/state-of-the-things-today way. As there's nothing left but laugh at the absurdity of our reality.
- ahstilde 2y ago
  What's absurd about a consumer brand having a gaming division?
- morpheuskafka 2y ago
  Same here, saw this post and thought it would be a nice way to pass time on my laptop which is tethered to 256kbps free roaming while my phone updates over the censored wifi so I don't waste my fast data (hence browsing HN as one of the few text-based websites still around). I remembered 2048 as a nice all-javascript game that runs in memory... opened this "updated version" and was met with slow-loading fonts, Google Ads, sign in and payment features, and the game did not in fact work (UI rendered but the initial 2 tile never loaded).
eirikbakke 2y ago
I made a version with llamas at some point, as a valentine's card. (Source code is yours, I just swapped the images!) # of llamas = log2(original number) https://people.csail.mit.edu/ebakke/twothousandandfortyppaca/ https://people.csail.mit.edu/ebakke/twothousandandfortyppaca...
diimdeep 2y ago
20k run on the first try, enough for next 10 years https://cdn.jpg.wtf/futurico/8d/36/1729783571-8d36e171f9deb97c03eeaeee364bc7db.png https://cdn.jpg.wtf/futurico/8d/36/1729783571-8d36e171f9deb9...
seafoamteal 2y ago
This feels so much snappier than the original. I don't know if I'd use the powerups, because usually I play 2048 mindlessly and when I don't really want to think too much, but I might find myself pleasantly surprised in the future.
chubot 2y ago
I remember seeing it back then, and playing it for quite awhile. Great game, thank you!
patatino 2y ago
I play it evertime when I watch a tv show. I played it probably 10 thousands time.
vitaly-pavlenko 2y ago
Your game has inspired me back then to create a game on quickly finding isomorphic graphs. Since then, I haven't created any other game in 10 years. So thank you for a powerful stimulus! https://vpavlenko.github.io/fluffy-graph/ https://vpavlenko.github.io/fluffy-graph/
ieuanking 2y ago
Cannot believe this is a decade old - will always remember playing 2048 on the NYC subway to school with my friends <3
dang 2y ago
Here are the threads I could find with 20 or more comments. Smaller threads are listed in a collapsed reply. These are in chronological order for a change: 2048 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7373566 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7373566 - March 2014 (410 comments) 2048 AI - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7379821 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7379821 - March 2014 (189 comments) 2048 – multiplayer - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7384974 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7384974 - March 2014 (113 comments) 2048 x 2 = 4096 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7396134 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7396134 - March 2014 (24 comments) 2048 in the terminal - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7398011 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7398011 - March 2014 (88 comments) 2048 with Leaderboard and achievements, with Kivy (Python/OpenGL) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7404515 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7404515 - March 2014 (25 comments) Show HN: 2048 in 2048 bytes - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7406605 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7406605 - March 2014 (54 comments) 2048 in 3D - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7416777 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7416777 - March 2014 (66 comments) 2048 in 4D - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7418219 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7418219 - March 2014 (113 comments) Flappy 2048 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7431047 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7431047 - March 2014 (121 comments) Show HN: Logarithmic Flappy 2048 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7432448 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7432448 - March 2014 (64 comments) HN Plays 2048 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7433524 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7433524 - March 2014 (81 comments) Show HN: 2048 Tetris - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7435569 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7435569 - March 2014 (60 comments) 2048 for physicists - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7438567 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7438567 - March 2014 (33 comments) 2048 Numberwang - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7439444 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7439444 - March 2014 (110 comments) Show HN: 2048 without numbers - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7443166 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7443166 - March 2014 (46 comments) Dropbox 2048 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7443379 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7443379 - March 2014 (2 comments) 8402: 2048 from the other side - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7446139 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7446139 - March 2014 (53 comments) 2(048) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7453543 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7453543 - March 2014 (46 comments) 2048 in sed - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7464294 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7464294 - March 2014 (35 comments) 2048 game to the Atari 2600 VCS - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7466097 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7466097 - March 2014 (22 comments) 2048 Solver - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7473486 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7473486 - March 2014 (38 comments) Threes: The Rip-offs and Making Our Original Game - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7484106 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7484106 - March 2014 (208 comments) 2048 As A Service - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7510670 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7510670 - April 2014 (52 comments) 2048 implemented in 487 bytes of C - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7535666 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7535666 - April 2014 (45 comments) 2048 in 3D - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7543483 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7543483 - April 2014 (51 comments) Flappy 2048 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7637009 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7637009 - April 2014 (32 comments) 2048 in Famo.us - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7660206 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7660206 - April 2014 (21 comments) 2048, success and me - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7704800 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7704800 - May 2014 (222 comments) Show HN: 2048 in Swift - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7845441 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7845441 - June 2014 (34 comments) Implementing 2048 in 90 lines of Haskell - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7896187 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7896187 - June 2014 (24 comments) 243 Game – inspired by 2048 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7991773 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7991773 - July 2014 (36 comments) Design Is Why 2048 Sucks, and Threes Is a Masterpiece - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8030413 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8030413 - July 2014 (80 comments) The Mathematics of 2048: Counting States with Combinatorics - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15327837 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15327837 - Sept 2017 (46 comments) The Mathematics of 2048: Counting States by Exhaustive Enumeration - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15894126 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15894126 - Dec 2017 (22 comments) The Mathematics of 2048: Optimal Play with Markov Decision Processes - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16790338 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16790338 - April 2018 (43 comments) Show HN: 2048.cpp – Play 2048 in directly your terminal - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17897283 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17897283 - Sept 2018 (45 comments) The Mathematics of 2048: Optimal Play with Markov Decision Processes (2018) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28310842 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28310842 - Aug 2021 (50 comments) Show HN: 1024, a 2048 Puzzle Game - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32405510 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32405510 - Aug 2022 (48 comments) Show HN: Exponentile – A match 3 game mixed with 2048 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39897112 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39897112 - April 2024 (40 comments) Show HN: King Thirteen: 2048 with chess pieces, in under 13 KB - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41623814 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41623814 - Sept 2024 (80 comments)
Sharlin 2y ago
383,392 points on the first try, using the new powerups. At that point I had a 16384, 8192, 4096, 2048, 1024, 256 and two 128's, but getting that extra 512 and then successfully folding the tiles into a 32768 likely wouldn't have been feasible, even if I had had more luck. I think this was enough for me for a while =D
rane 2y ago
How did you do animations for the menus and stuff?
mordae 2y ago
This doesn't make any sense. We should be celebrating 8 years, 16 years and so on.
- rossant 2y ago
  The true 10th anniversary actually happened 1000 years ago.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
- Medox 2y ago
  In 8+16 years from now we can celebrate 2048 the whole year. Still time for the author to implement an Easter egg until then.
101008 2y ago
This may be buried in the comments and you will never see it, but thank you very much Gabriele. Your game helped me in a very weird circumstance. I was afraid of flying, specially on the takeoff and landing (and turbulence as well, ha). So I read somewhere that if I focused on something else, it would help me. So for the past years, I played 2048 during takeoff and landing, and it worked. It helped me to focus on something else, not the airplane, and I started to enjoying more my trips. Now I don't need to do it anymore, but just for the experience I still do it when I fly. So thank you for helping me with my fear!
- terabytest 2y ago
  That’s amazing! Such a cool story. I’m really happy that 2048 was able to help you this way :)
- richardzhang 2y ago
  Always amazing to read about surprising positive impacts that a project can make in someone's life like this.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- bschwindHN 2y ago
  This is bizarre. I came into this thread to make this exact same comment - I play 2048 religiously during takeoff, turbulence, and sometimes landing. It works really well, though if you were to watch a replay of my game, you could tell when turbulence hits because I start making faster and less logical moves :)
  - 101008 2y ago
    I'm afraid again now...
  - morelikeborelax 2y ago
    Very bizarre, as I also found it helped with this! I was only a First Officer at the time, but even as a Captain today I find playing 2048 during take off and landing really helps.
swarthy_avenger 2y ago
I played 2048 A LOT back when it came out. I still fire it up every now and then. Thanks Gabriele, what a fantastic game you have made.
windowshopping 2y ago
I have to ask, did the game make you rich?
Jerrrrrrry 2y ago
It is easy to underestimate any individual's contribution to society, especially if it can be (ridiculously) trivialized as "just a mindless game" (that hurt to type). 2048 has impacted our species. Seriously. I can assure you from an objective, subjective, authoritative, personal, and collective position: your game has saved many people their sanity, entertained millions, saved/wasted billions, inspired untold people into math, web dev, and game design. But most importantly, people didn't quit "mindless/thankless/frustrating/demeaning" jobs because their mind was _just_ adequately stimulated by your creation to continue to justify coming to work the next day. Not demanding enough to command full attention (until we get a 4096, then nothing else matters), but 'choring' enough (in the most charitable sense) to keep people from finding a more or less demanding time-fill, likely compromising their jobs. Jobs that help others, in an exponential way, sometimes. Even if this was an isolated incident, I can tell you, you will forever be top 5 (hyper) viral games by a solo developer. If a butterfly can cause a hurricane, 2048 could just as easily be the reason we survive the next filter, for all we know. You helped me help others help others. And you deserve to know that. BTW: I always blocked your ads (no offense, just cognitive stuff). Drop a donation link somewhere, please.
Devasta 2y ago
Store and/or access information on a device ( 723 partners included ) Consent + Develop and improve services ( 379 partners included ) Legitimate Interest Consent + Use limited data to select content ( 101 partners included ) Legitimate Interest Consent + Use limited data to select advertising ( 472 partners included ) Legitimate Interest Consent + Create profiles for personalised advertising ( 529 partners included ) Use precise geolocation data ( 547 partners included ) Consent + Actively scan device characteristics for identification ( 551 partners included ) If this doesn't describe the modern internet I don't know what else does.
- LeifCarrotson 2y ago
  Plus a requirement to subscribe to Amazon Prime if you want to unlock more DLC? chef's kiss FWIW, on desktop Firefox, between uBlock Origin, EFF's Privacy Badger, and Ghostery "Never Consent" cookie dismissal, I got no trackers, no cookies, no ads, and full site functionality.
- hankchinaski 2y ago
  Then don’t use it. People who keen on whining about this clearly don’t know anything about building a business.
  - ziddoap 2y ago
    You do not need what was posted above to build a business.
    - lencastre 2y ago
      Buuuuuuurn
  - Devasta 2y ago
    That you thought this was a post worth making, I'm embarrassed for you.
    - hankchinaski 2y ago
CAPSLOCKSSTUCK 2y ago
This is still the only mobile game I play (besides chess, if that counts). Thanks for creating such a fun piece of software. It's snappy, beautiful, and tastefully done.
ricoche 2y ago
I spent so many hours on this back in Campus, thank you for building 2048
kregasaurusrex 2y ago
I still remember how quickly this spread and people made their own versions, right about the same time as Twitch Plays Pokemon came out! I'm glad it's had such a positive impact both globally among your players and to your career. Praise helix!
thiht 2y ago
One of my finals during my masters degree required us to implement a 2048 engine using OCaml. I had a bit of practice with OCaml but this specific exercise really made something click in me. It made me understand how to leverage a type system to represent a state, and make impossible states impossible to represent. I don’t use OCaml anymore but this exercise has definitely made me a better developer. That’s in part thanks to OCaml, and in part thanks to 2048 so thank you for inventing the game :)
jooz 2y ago
Im curious on the real cost of the impact of this game had on big co. I remember everybody was playing non stop at work.
Nifty3929 2y ago
Fun game. I played for the first time and got a score of 3048, with my largest tile being 256 and no powerups used. Not sure if that's a good score or not. My one observation is that it didn't feel intellectually engaging until the board was fairly full. Until I got to ~2500 or so, I was just making random-ish moves that felt like they didn't matter much. So it took say 15min before I got to the "good part." It would be nice if the game could be modified in some way to get to the sweet spot earlier. Maybe starting from a mostly-full "puzzle" board, with varying levels of difficulty. Or if the early moves actually DO matter more - and my beginner brain just didn't realize it - maybe there's a way to explain that connection to newer players so that they engage their brain earlier on. Almost feels a bit like chess opening moves, which to a beginner might not feel very impactful, but to an experienced player they can see the connection from that one early pawn move to something meaningful later on in the game.
- Normal_gaussian 2y ago
  Its more like a Rubick's cube - there is a trick to it. Getting a single tile to 2048 is fairly easy once you know it, and practically a guarantee once you've had a bit of practice. The new powerups etc. are nice for removing a mistake, or for letting you get a score a little bit higher at the end game, but won't take you the distance unless you have good technique. A big part of the magic is getting your head round it - like any other logic puzzle.
  - School-Cotton 2y ago
    Unlike the Rubik's cube, I think you can get good enough at 2048 to usually get the 2048-tile based purely on intuition, though, without consciously memorizing anything. I've never looked up a strategy guide to the game and just playing purely by instinct (using heuristics I've randomly discovered myself), I can usually get there. I'm curious what you mean by "the trick"!
- Ringz 2y ago
  All your ideas to make the game more interesting are solved: Just play Threes instead.
air7 2y ago
How time flies. I remember I wrote a zero-knowledge AI bookmarklet that did quite well... http://stackoverflow.com/a/23853848/632039 http://stackoverflow.com/a/23853848/632039
omoikane 2y ago
The new power ups are a nice addition that allowed me to reach 2048 more quickly :) I remember a coworker who said something along the lines of "I am free!" when he finally got 2048, and then never touched the game again. I hope the new power ups will make the game less addictive.
tritip 2y ago
What do you say to people when they accuse you of ripping off "Threes"? Is it true?
- benatkin 2y ago
  I liked Threes a lot, and I bought it. It was fun. Later I discovered 2048, and it was also fun, and felt like a bit of a different game to me. The author's reaction to 2048 rubbed me the wrong way a bit. https://asherv.com/threes/threemails/ https://asherv.com/threes/threemails/ Thankfully fans of 2048 pushed back and most decided that it's a simple enough game that you can't really expect there not to be clones, or clones of clones. I like this one: https://mdjorge.github.io/doge2048/ https://mdjorge.github.io/doge2048/ --- Edit: From the post about Threes: > We do believe imitation is the greatest form of flattery, but ideally the imitation happens after we’ve had time to descend slowly from the peak -- not the moment we plant the flag. Fair enough. Things moved too fast for that back then and they move even faster now. A coding AI could help create a ripoff.
  - ultimafan 2y ago
    I do feel a bit bad for them. Putting so much work into a project only to have it cloned a week or two after they released it to much bigger fanfare (I'd never even heard of Threes up until this point but everyone I knew was goofing around on 2048 when it came out) has got to be soul crushing. But at the same time, this should really be a learning lesson to everyone- if your game or idea is simple enough to clone that someone can "rip it off" with a week of effort, you'd better damn well make sure your original excels in something that can't be cloned quite so quickly. Or not spend so much time working on it. Having only played 2048 and seeing how relatively polished and pleasing the presentation of it was for a so-called week of effort, I find it a bit baffling that it took the Threes team a year of work.
    - Ringz 2y ago
      Threes never really left the top 100 charts in the App Store. I think they are fine. Threes is the much better game IMO - 2048 gets boring after a while. I still play threes after all this time and it’s still satisfying.
hankchinaski 2y ago
I used to play this in high school. Great work you did. And I hope things turn out well for you.
mizzao 2y ago
What's with the premium version that's free with Amazon Prime?
torlok 2y ago
To add to the clone topic, 2048 was cloned from 1024, so any claims of being only inspired by Threes fall apart quickly. IMHO, the way you're trying to sell 2048 is revisionist history and just plain shit. You can't turn back time, and let the Threes creator have a moment to shine and profit from the design, but you can at least give credit where due, and not when 50 people call you out on it.
yawnxyz 2y ago
Thanks so much! I saw 2048 on hn back in the day (10 years?!) and loved it, and then I bought Threes! Which I still play idly today! On a sidenote: it's been years, but anyone else slightly annoyed that the "Out of Moves" text is still not centered?
nneonneo 2y ago
Thank you for building this game, Gabriele! I very much enjoyed playing the game - and later, building what was (at that time) the best AI for the game while procrastinating on my PhD! (https://github.com/nneonneo/2048-ai https://github.com/nneonneo/2048-ai, https://stackoverflow.com/a/22498940/1204143 https://stackoverflow.com/a/22498940/1204143) I'd actually built an AI for Threes some time earlier (https://github.com/nneonneo/threes-ai https://github.com/nneonneo/threes-ai), although (perhaps unsurprisingly) the 2048 AI turned out to be a lot more popular. The timing is pretty funny too - I was on a flight just two weeks ago that featured 2048 as one of the in-flight games, so I played it myself for a bit, got to 2048, then got my AI to get me to 4096 - and promptly crashed the whole app! Your implementation, even though it took just five days, was remarkably robust and fast and has held up really well all these years - real props to the great job you did. I guess now I'll have to update my AI for all the powerups you've added to the game :^)
chrismorgan 2y ago
Bug report: digits don’t show for me. (Interesting æsthetic, actually, unmarked tiles.) Firefox, Sway/Linux, Settings → Fonts → Advanced → “Allow pages to choose their own fonts, instead of your selections above” disabled, and web fonts blocked altogether via uBlock Origin.
- rafram 2y ago
  That’s not really surprising with those settings.
  - chrismorgan 2y ago
    It is, actually. Firefox's PDF renderer on text meeting certain conditions is the only thing I've encountered breaking in a similar way (not rendering text), in almost five years of using this configuration. I expect it to just render with my chosen fonts. That's what everything else does.
- kccqzy 2y ago
  Unrelated: I really wish the browser setting of "Allow pages to choose their own fonts, instead of your selections above" can be a per-origin setting. There are a small number of websites that use web fonts tastefully but for the majority I would prefer my own fonts.
rcarmo 2y ago
I tried it and it is very nice, but I completely ignored the extra features :) My brain is just too hardwired to use cursor keys and doesn’t even think to look outside the box and click the buttons with a mouse, I guess.
time4tea 2y ago
Just another scam Internet surveillance. Why do you need to share tracking data with many hundreds of shady organisations.
r721 2y ago
My favorite 2048 clone is 2048 4D https://huonw.github.io/2048-4D/ https://huonw.github.io/2048-4D/
Aardwolf 2y ago
Question: why does it start at 2 instead of at 1?
- arduanika 2y ago
  The powers of 1 are less interesting.
  - Aardwolf 2y ago
    2^0 is 1. The game doubles the number each time, so starting with two 1s would make a 2. It's weird to start with two 2s making a 4.
tucnak 2y ago
I love 2048 but the page linked in OP is a disgrace: it filled with ad trackers, and the game itself doesn't even work if they're blocked.
MatthewWilkes 2y ago
2048 is a brilliant game, I love it. I understand that it's been used widely (I even saw it on a plane IFE system last month) and that likely didn't generate much ot any income, but the first impression when opening this was a bit dodgy. There are over 700 'partners' you want me to consent to sending data to? Come on, you know that nobody could make an informed decision on that.
CodeWriter23 2y ago
Meh, wake me up when you release 16384. Just kidding, glad this can be a full time venture for you. Mixed feelings about this orbiting back into my field of view again. So far, having fun.
naikrovek 2y ago
> 2048 is now my full-time focus How? How does that game pay anywhere nearly enough to allow that?
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
hessart 2y ago
So nice! I remember playing it back in the day, and then forking your repo to make it 128 instead of 2048. Turns out the fork is still up. It's been literally 10 years. https://128.arthurhess.com https://128.arthurhess.com
darkerside 2y ago
I'm sorry, but that ad placement is really obnoxious. Blocking these cool, new power ups after someone is halfway into a game comes off as a dark pattern, whether it's intentional or not.
Neywiny 2y ago
Thank you. I've thoroughly enjoyed 2048 the past 10 years. The new one isn't showing the numbers for me, though. I'm on Firefox on Android. Classic one works perfectly. Works fine on Edge for mobile (only have it for situations like this where I'm tracing browser dependencies).
bryant 2y ago
So I just had a repeat experience playing the game that massively turned me off to replaying it. Was at 4096, and I tend to bunch up all of my numbers in sequential order like a snake, with the metaphorical head being the bottom left. Well, I was no longer able to avoid swiping down or left, so I had to swipe up. I had the full complement of two undos left, and 8 spare squares for numbers to appear. Three times in a row, a number appeared in the bottom left when I swiped up. Odds of which should be 1/512 unless the game biases in favor of certain squares for hidden difficulty. I pretty much decided not to play after that, because it was the third time that's happened. Not yet knowing what the actual code is that decides where new numbers appear, it frustrated me enough to not want to revisit this version of the game.
rythmshifter 2y ago
As a newcomer to this platform, I distinctly recall discovering this project as one of my earliest and most cherished memories of encountering engaging and rewarding endeavors within its community. Well done! My phone said this sounded more professional but I kind of hate it.
ialexpw 2y ago
This is surreal reading that this was 10 years ago - I'm sure we came across eachother on Facepunch back in the day and I remember all of the amusing threads. Congrats on this landmark.

669 points by terabytest 2y ago

mppm 2y ago

The original 2048 was pretty cool, but damn, this improved version is just insultingly easy... and with a freemium option of course. I guess it captures the spirit of our times pretty well, though.

hashtekar 2y ago

Just to note to say thanks. Never have I played anything that gives me so much satisfaction. I found I had some weird aptitude for it.

navent 2y ago

Was a fun game, I still remember trying it back then!

iainmerrick 2y ago

For those who haven't heard of Threes, I highly recommend giving it a try. It's the original game that 1024, 2048 etc were cloned from (and I think it's still the best by far). Wikipedia has a good summary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threes#Legacy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threes#Legacy

lanthade 2y ago
I still play Threes regularly. It’s super accessible but still remains challenging after years of play. I even occasionally still set a new high score.
- Ringz 2y ago
  It’s exactly the same for me. Threes never gets boring. I can almost finish 2048 every time. For me, that’s the definition of boring.
rubslopes 2y ago
Here's a great blog post from the Threes dev about their creation process and the impact of the rip-offs: https://asherv.com/threes/threemails/ https://asherv.com/threes/threemails/
- mysterydip 2y ago
  I love being able to see the prototype evolution of the game on here. Thanks for sharing!
- zahlman 2y ago
  >2048 is a broken game. Something we noticed about this kind of system early on (that you'll see hidden in the emails below). We wanted players to be able to play Threes over many months, if not years. We both beat 2048 on our first tries. We’d wager most people that have been able to score a 768 or even a 384 in Threes would be able to do the same using the fabled “corner strategy”. You probably could too! Just try tapping “up” then “right” in alternating order until you can’t move. Then press left. You may not get to a 2048, but you might just see your highest score ever. >When an automated script that alternates pressing up and right and left every hundreth time can beat the game, then well, that's broken. From my experience, this greatly overstates the "exploit". In 2048 you get to maybe 128 this way typically before you can't move up/right any more, then you have to start thinking after the left press. Basically whenever you slide away from the "preferred" corner, supposing your plan is to slide back promptly, there's always a chance that a random spawn gets in your way and complicates the plan. Getting to 2048 on the first try doesn't sound like a modal experience at all. (Of course, most new 2048 players won't have had the experience of developing Threes first.) For that matter, the developer talks about how rare it is to see a 6144, but doesn't seem to acknowledge that reaching a 4096 in 2048 is far more difficult than reaching 2048. At any rate, it's not at all immediately clear why having the player join 1+2 first before making blocks of 3*2^n, should noticeably improve the gameplay over having only powers of two. So IMO it's not that the gameplay of 2048 is fundamentally less interesting; the implementation just sets a lower standard. (Though for what it's worth, I've wondered how it might go with the Fibonacci sequence - allowing 1s to merge either with 2s or other 1s.)

wiether 2y ago

> suddenly it seemed like everyone was playing it That's exactly how I remember it, yes. It started with only the tech people, but then it spread to all coworkers, friends, grandparents... Anyway, congrats on this game but I won't fall in the same trap as 10 years prior, wasting hours upon hours of productivity!

mgarciaisaia 2y ago
> I won't fall in the same trap as 10 years prior, wasting hours upon hours of productivity! One day later, did you succeed in that?

simonebrunozzi 2y ago

Bravo Gabriele, 2048 was an amazing piece of design and UI. Loved it. You did amazing work.

speps 2y ago

Always interesting to hear the other side of the story: https://asherv.com/threes/threemails/ https://asherv.com/threes/threemails/ HN thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7484106 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7484106

Twelveday 2y ago

It seems like there's a little pay to win even in a simple game like 2048 nowadays :)

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

red_admiral 2y ago

Congratulations! "Powerups with Amazon Prime" sounds like the famous bug report that grep (I think) should search on Amazon if it doesn't find the string locally, which was submitted IIRC in protest at the Ubuntu "lens" doing just that.

abcd_f 2y ago

[flagged]

npinsker 2y ago
He mentions Threes! prominently in both link [1] and link [2].
- abcd_f 2y ago
  [flagged]
  - jckahn 2y ago
    What’s the problem, exactly? Is there some stated HN rule that requires a developer to clearly state the inspiration for their work?
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
terabytest 2y ago
I wanted to address this, because I understand where you come from. Threes is actually credited in the about page[1] on play2048.co. The frustration is completely understandable, as Threes is definitely where the concept originated. Due to the chain of derivative games that led to the creation of 2048, I had not seen or heard of Threes until after it went viral. I think the inspiration Threes provided, although valid, is somewhat indirect in the case of 2048. I did try my best to reflect this in the about page and when I talked about my experience here[2]. I noticed there's no mention of it on GitHub, so I'll add it there. I am happy to do better given the feedback, but I'm not sure what kind of improvement I could make here. Let me know [1]: https://play2048.co/about https://play2048.co/about [2]: https://medium.com/@gabrielecirulli/2048-success-and-me-7dc664f7a9bd https://medium.com/@gabrielecirulli/2048-success-and-me-7dc6...
- abcd_f 2y ago
  [flagged]

abcd_f 2y ago

[flagged]

mass_and_energy 2y ago
Why is everybody saying this when the game mechanic of 2048 is fundamentally different. The difference in play between swiping over one tile at a time VS swiping and moving all tiles to one side is a big difference. Furthermore, the author didn't know Threes existed when they made it, so calling it a "blatant rip" is rudely false. Let's lift each other up instead of pushing each other down.
jasonlotito 2y ago
And Threes is a blatant rip off of other games before it as much as 2048 is of Threes. Let's go down that rabbit hole.
- MattRix 2y ago
  [flagged]
  - The-Bus 2y ago
    Forget it, Jack, it's Tripletown.
    - MattRix 2y ago
      Triple Town was great in its own right, but the games are very different and have lots of different mechanics. Nobody would argue that Threes is as similar to Triple Town as 2048 is to Threes.
samatman 2y ago
2048 is a better game, which is why it's 100x or more popular than Threes. I'm sure that you, a connoisseur, greatly prefer Threes, which is great. It can be fun to have a taste which is that of a very small minority. But, to state the nearly tautological, the difference in popularity is because 2048 is better, in the view of the vast majority. It's more fun to play, and that's what makes a game good.

turnsout 2y ago

[flagged]

WesleyLivesay 2y ago

uBlock Origin blocks 330 items on that page, which I think is a personal record for the sites I have been to.

maximegarcia 2y ago
Consent banner says data sent to "901 partners"... I like the game though, but I use the PWA made by Opera team at https://2048-opera-pwa.surge.sh/ https://2048-opera-pwa.surge.sh/

npinsker 2y ago

There are a lot of comments mentioning Threes! and holding it up as superior. I play a lot of games, and I greatly prefer Threes myself -- but I also remember very well when 2048 came out; I was in college, and 75% or more of my dorm had no interest in Threes and preferred playing and remixing 2048. Threes is very stressful and intense, while 2048 goes straight for your brain's pleasure centers, like many other mobile games nowadays. There's value in that. There's massive value in 2048 that Threes! does not capture. Just because someone spends a lot of time designing something, it does not entitle them to attention or praise. Many great artists get famous for works they absolutely hate. Gabriele has been consistently courteous about all of this for 10 years, and I'd suggest people here could be a bit more courteous to him too.

bryanlarsen 2y ago
To me, Threes poorly straddles the middle ground between a "real game" and a "time filler". If I want a "real game" I'll play Factorio or something. When I need a break from mental work I can pull 2048. I rarely want anything in between.
- MattRix 2y ago
  Lots of people do want that “middle ground” game, especially people who exclusively play games on mobile rather than PC or console.
  - bryanlarsen 2y ago
    [flagged]
    - MattRix 2y ago
      [flagged]
      - dspillett 2y ago
        An opinion was stated. An opinion that will no doubt be agreed with by many, me for one. But absolutely no claim was made that it is correct for all people. Or even most people. To answer your sort-of question: > Ok? But lots of people do want that “middle ground” game… Those lots of people can play threes, or other games that exist in such a middle ground. Not every game needs to support every play style, nor does every person need to like every game. Or to be facetious and answer you in your own style: > Ok? But lots of people do want that “middle ground” game… OK? But lots of people don't want the “middle ground” game, especially people who like more complex games on desktop/console and only simpler time-fillers on mobile. Or even more so: > Ok? But lots of people do want that “middle ground” game… Yes… and?

jmclnx 2y ago

2048 is only 10 years old, I am shocked. I found it a while ago when looking for the source of xjumpjump and instantly liked it. Thanks for creating 2048. Every so often I try and see if xjumpjump is available on cell phones, but none yet.

MzHN 2y ago

Sometimes I have trouble listening without my thoughts drifting elsewhere. I found out that playing a Tetris clone that never increases in speed and never ends is a good way to keep a clear focus on listening. After changing phones recently my perfect Tetris clone stopped working as it was 32bit and the support was dropped. I've been looking for an alternative and finally found one in a 2048 clone with an Undo button. I thank you for that. It has saved me a lot of trouble staying focused!

nicole_express 2y ago

Congrats on the 10 year anniversary, though honestly I think having tried your new 2048 I'll go back to the classic build. It might just be the hours I've poured into the original but it feels faster without the additional animation. But still a lot of good work there and I'm wishing you the best of luck. As for the argument about Threes!, I have to say that I've generally found 2048 to be a much more fun game; the full-screen sliding and the lack of the 1+2 mechanic makes things move much faster, which for me is a priority. That's definitely personal taste, but I hate the vitriol that comes up on the topic.

mega_dean 2y ago

Interesting to see the times for speedruns of this game: https://www.speedrun.com/2048 https://www.speedrun.com/2048 2048: 24s 4096: 1m 37s 8192: 4m 53s 16384: 13m 34s 32768: 55m 24s

askvictor 2y ago
I can't quite comprehend how a human would be able to achieve 24s
- rcarmo 2y ago
  There is a factor of luck here. I can usually get to 128 or 256 in that time, but it really depends on whether you focus on doubling up a single square or cleaning up the board.
  - askvictor 2y ago
    256, sure, but 2048 would take 8 times as long
- mega_dean 2y ago
  Oh, it's not obvious at all from the UI, but the left-most column is a link to the video of the run: https://www.speedrun.com/2048/runs/zxwdol8m https://www.speedrun.com/2048/runs/zxwdol8m
- kccqzy 2y ago
  In the early phases of the game, just mashing two adjacent arrow keys (say, left and down) will get you pretty far without any thinking whatsoever. You only need to slow down when the board is about three quarters full.
thewisenerd 2y ago
as a former record holder (1m18s, 2015) it's been fascinating to see this number go down over the years

Azrael3000 2y ago

Congratulations on creating such a wonderful game. My wife still plays it, I would claim, daily. I would claim it's part of her evening relaxation :) I will most certainly forward your new developments to her and also try it myself. Good luck with your new job.

bla3 2y ago

Still very fun! I didn't notice anything different from how it was in my memory. That seems like a successful modernization :) I didn't notice that there were power ups until reading your post.

rob74 2y ago

Wow, has it already been ten years? I also wrote a clone of 2048 back then (https://github.com/nieware/gofusion https://github.com/nieware/gofusion), using Go and a QML-based UI, for a contest, and (to my astonishment) actually won the first prize, which consisted of a Nexus 7 tablet (which served me well for several years) and a rare original vinyl Gopher figurine (which is still sitting on my desk looking at me serenely with its googly eyes while I type this).

itchyouch 2y ago

Just downloaded the new classic version with ads and wanted to pass along a suggestion that Thor makes. While I understand that you’ve gotta make a living, ads are far more palatable if the user can consent to them. And the way to make the user a part of the process is to offer a trade for the ad, rather than obtrusively running them. “Would you like 500 gold to watch an ad?” Yes? Ad for in-game currency that provides powerups? That’s a great deal and it’s win/win. No? Okay, no ad, but no power up. Statistically, you almost always get a yes, but the players are 100x happier than the slimey games that force ads in unscrupulous ways.

terabytest 2y ago
This is interesting feedback. I always thought that ads being unobtrusive and not part of gameplay would be the saner choice. In my mind, when games ask you to trade watching an add for some kind of in-game benefit or currency, that feels like an unreasonable demand. The ads impinge on the gameplay. The way I've set up the site, ads are tucked in their own corner and should never affect gameplay (though there have been instances of ads spilling over the powerup bar, I'm working on that). Thanks for sharing!
Suppafly 2y ago
>And the way to make the user a part of the process is to offer a trade for the ad I think that is a worse pattern overall. It's essentially converting from the idea of watching ads to support the developer to watching ads as a pay to win mechanism. Pay to win mechanisms are always worse than any other alternative.

mass_and_energy 2y ago

I'm disappointed in HN for stomping this person for the game that they made. They had no idea Threes existed, made this game as an experiment, and it went viral. Despite this, they still acknowledge Threes on their site. But they post here and are dogpiled on by people saying they ripped off another game and should feel like a scumbag. That's wrong, let's be kind to each other instead of exhibiting rude behavior that discourages people from pursuing their projects because "it's a ripoff of xyz". This started as an experiment, and is now this person's full time career. Can we instead encourage others to follow? We're not talking about a 1:1 ripoff, we're talking about a game whose gameplay is adjacent to another game. Is Call of Duty a rip-off of Medal of Honor because they're both WWII FPS games?

The-Bus 2y ago
Especially when other merge games (Triple Town) existed for years. They're all in the same general genre.
- Suppafly 2y ago
  >Especially when other merge games (Triple Town) existed for years. That matt guy that's posted like 100 times in this thread doesn't want to hear it, but I've literally only ever heard Threes brought up in comparison to 2048 and Triple Town. No one brings up Threes on their own organically.
MattRix 2y ago
"They had no idea Threes existed" This makes it even worse, because it means they ripped off 1024 instead (the game that ripped off Threes). That means they put even less effort into their clone, even the name is a rip off of that game. I genuinely don't get how people here can say "Oh it's just like Call of Duty and Medal of Honor" or say that Triple Town and Threes were similar. Obviously there's a spectrum from inspiration to cloning, but 2048 is so far on the cloning end of that spectrum that the whole comparison seems like a joke.
- pests 2y ago

andrewmcwatters 2y ago

Hi gab, thanks for sharing. This was fun to play back during our Facepunch era, and it’s still entertaining now.

Saming 2y ago
Hello as well from a past Facepunch user, 10 years go by very quickly @Terabytes glad to see your work, the new release is really nice
- Philpax 2y ago
  Likewise, glad to see fellow former Facepunchers here :-) Great work!
bpye 2y ago
I thought I remembered seeing it back on there in the "What are you working on" thread. Was always interesting to scroll through.

nikeee 2y ago

TypeScript was fairly new at that time and to learn it, I ported 2048 to TypeScript. It was fun! Fast forward a couple of years, I was debugging an issue with a react component and glanced over the .d.ts of react. I was quite surprised when I saw that my name was in them. I never contributed to react's types myself. It turned out that someone took some types I wrote for 2048 and used them in the very first type definitions for react: https://github.com/DefinitelyTyped/DefinitelyTyped/commit/4bed0b571c011818db3e05ae0d1ae5b985cda206 https://github.com/DefinitelyTyped/DefinitelyTyped/commit/4b... It's still there to this date, but I've lost my TS port in the sands of time.

andrewf 2y ago

Random thing I noticed last week: there's a version of 2048 buried in the United Airlines iPhone app. Hamburger -> Games -> 2048.

a_t48 2y ago
Also in some inflight entertainment systems!

randomblast 2y ago

You know how the distribution of 2-value vs 4-value for new tiles is a weighted random function? And sometimes you get an unlikely 4 that really screw you over? Have you thought about adding a mode which always creates the worst option of the 2? You could call it “God does play dice with the universe. They're loaded and he hates you.”

amadeuspagel 2y ago
Like HATETRIS: https://qntm.org/files/hatetris/hatetris.html https://qntm.org/files/hatetris/hatetris.html
terabytest 2y ago
I think 2048-AI had this, but I’m not sure. It’d surely be pretty evil. Imagine it turning on randomly when it detects you’re going too fast :)
- ovolve 2y ago
  Someone forked 2048-AI and added evil mode :) https://sztupy.hu/2048-Hard/ https://sztupy.hu/2048-Hard/ Originating in the StackOverflow comments here https://stackoverflow.com/questions/22342854/what-is-the-optimal-algorithm-for-the-game-2048#comment34137097_22389702 https://stackoverflow.com/questions/22342854/what-is-the-opt... BTW, congrats on the whole thing; what a ride. I remember staying up all night implementing the AI after seeing it here, and the rush of seeing it win the first time, plus the added rush of seeing the AI post right next to the original post on here. Thanks for the fun!
Jerrrry 2y ago
Like a Cambodian version of minesweeper.

jnsaff2 2y ago

My favorite version is the wasm implementation written in rust. Source: https://github.com/dev-family/wasm-2048 https://github.com/dev-family/wasm-2048 Playable here: https://2048.dev.family/ https://2048.dev.family/

mbb70 2y ago

My favorite 2048 clone by far is https://ashervollmer.github.io/2048/128.html https://ashervollmer.github.io/2048/128.html, which is just a 3x3 2048 that only spawns 2. I like it because it is possible to achieve total victory, a perfect game fills the board with a a final score of 7172.

igleria 2y ago

Thank you for the entertainment 2048 gave me years ago, hope your new version has the reach you want!

rathboma 2y ago

2048 is fantastic, and going full time on your project is a huge milestone. Congrats!

rzodkiew 2y ago

I've opened the game without reading the post. When I've hovered over the crown and saw the prime stuff I thought it was some kinda' joke or parody. Turns out it isn't. Which I think is even funnier in some meta/state-of-the-things-today way. As there's nothing left but laugh at the absurdity of our reality.

ahstilde 2y ago
What's absurd about a consumer brand having a gaming division?
morpheuskafka 2y ago
Same here, saw this post and thought it would be a nice way to pass time on my laptop which is tethered to 256kbps free roaming while my phone updates over the censored wifi so I don't waste my fast data (hence browsing HN as one of the few text-based websites still around). I remembered 2048 as a nice all-javascript game that runs in memory... opened this "updated version" and was met with slow-loading fonts, Google Ads, sign in and payment features, and the game did not in fact work (UI rendered but the initial 2 tile never loaded).

eirikbakke 2y ago

I made a version with llamas at some point, as a valentine's card. (Source code is yours, I just swapped the images!) # of llamas = log2(original number) https://people.csail.mit.edu/ebakke/twothousandandfortyppaca/ https://people.csail.mit.edu/ebakke/twothousandandfortyppaca...

diimdeep 2y ago

20k run on the first try, enough for next 10 years https://cdn.jpg.wtf/futurico/8d/36/1729783571-8d36e171f9deb97c03eeaeee364bc7db.png https://cdn.jpg.wtf/futurico/8d/36/1729783571-8d36e171f9deb9...

seafoamteal 2y ago

This feels so much snappier than the original. I don't know if I'd use the powerups, because usually I play 2048 mindlessly and when I don't really want to think too much, but I might find myself pleasantly surprised in the future.

chubot 2y ago

I remember seeing it back then, and playing it for quite awhile. Great game, thank you!

patatino 2y ago

I play it evertime when I watch a tv show. I played it probably 10 thousands time.

vitaly-pavlenko 2y ago

Your game has inspired me back then to create a game on quickly finding isomorphic graphs. Since then, I haven't created any other game in 10 years. So thank you for a powerful stimulus! https://vpavlenko.github.io/fluffy-graph/ https://vpavlenko.github.io/fluffy-graph/

ieuanking 2y ago

Cannot believe this is a decade old - will always remember playing 2048 on the NYC subway to school with my friends <3

dang 2y ago

Here are the threads I could find with 20 or more comments. Smaller threads are listed in a collapsed reply. These are in chronological order for a change: 2048 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7373566 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7373566 - March 2014 (410 comments) 2048 AI - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7379821 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7379821 - March 2014 (189 comments) 2048 – multiplayer - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7384974 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7384974 - March 2014 (113 comments) 2048 x 2 = 4096 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7396134 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7396134 - March 2014 (24 comments) 2048 in the terminal - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7398011 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7398011 - March 2014 (88 comments) 2048 with Leaderboard and achievements, with Kivy (Python/OpenGL) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7404515 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7404515 - March 2014 (25 comments) Show HN: 2048 in 2048 bytes - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7406605 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7406605 - March 2014 (54 comments) 2048 in 3D - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7416777 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7416777 - March 2014 (66 comments) 2048 in 4D - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7418219 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7418219 - March 2014 (113 comments) Flappy 2048 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7431047 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7431047 - March 2014 (121 comments) Show HN: Logarithmic Flappy 2048 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7432448 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7432448 - March 2014 (64 comments) HN Plays 2048 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7433524 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7433524 - March 2014 (81 comments) Show HN: 2048 Tetris - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7435569 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7435569 - March 2014 (60 comments) 2048 for physicists - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7438567 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7438567 - March 2014 (33 comments) 2048 Numberwang - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7439444 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7439444 - March 2014 (110 comments) Show HN: 2048 without numbers - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7443166 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7443166 - March 2014 (46 comments) Dropbox 2048 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7443379 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7443379 - March 2014 (2 comments) 8402: 2048 from the other side - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7446139 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7446139 - March 2014 (53 comments) 2(048) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7453543 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7453543 - March 2014 (46 comments) 2048 in sed - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7464294 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7464294 - March 2014 (35 comments) 2048 game to the Atari 2600 VCS - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7466097 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7466097 - March 2014 (22 comments) 2048 Solver - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7473486 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7473486 - March 2014 (38 comments) Threes: The Rip-offs and Making Our Original Game - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7484106 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7484106 - March 2014 (208 comments) 2048 As A Service - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7510670 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7510670 - April 2014 (52 comments) 2048 implemented in 487 bytes of C - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7535666 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7535666 - April 2014 (45 comments) 2048 in 3D - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7543483 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7543483 - April 2014 (51 comments) Flappy 2048 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7637009 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7637009 - April 2014 (32 comments) 2048 in Famo.us - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7660206 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7660206 - April 2014 (21 comments) 2048, success and me - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7704800 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7704800 - May 2014 (222 comments) Show HN: 2048 in Swift - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7845441 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7845441 - June 2014 (34 comments) Implementing 2048 in 90 lines of Haskell - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7896187 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7896187 - June 2014 (24 comments) 243 Game – inspired by 2048 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7991773 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7991773 - July 2014 (36 comments) Design Is Why 2048 Sucks, and Threes Is a Masterpiece - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8030413 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8030413 - July 2014 (80 comments) The Mathematics of 2048: Counting States with Combinatorics - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15327837 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15327837 - Sept 2017 (46 comments) The Mathematics of 2048: Counting States by Exhaustive Enumeration - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15894126 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15894126 - Dec 2017 (22 comments) The Mathematics of 2048: Optimal Play with Markov Decision Processes - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16790338 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16790338 - April 2018 (43 comments) Show HN: 2048.cpp – Play 2048 in directly your terminal - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17897283 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17897283 - Sept 2018 (45 comments) The Mathematics of 2048: Optimal Play with Markov Decision Processes (2018) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28310842 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28310842 - Aug 2021 (50 comments) Show HN: 1024, a 2048 Puzzle Game - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32405510 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32405510 - Aug 2022 (48 comments) Show HN: Exponentile – A match 3 game mixed with 2048 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39897112 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39897112 - April 2024 (40 comments) Show HN: King Thirteen: 2048 with chess pieces, in under 13 KB - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41623814 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41623814 - Sept 2024 (80 comments)

Sharlin 2y ago

383,392 points on the first try, using the new powerups. At that point I had a 16384, 8192, 4096, 2048, 1024, 256 and two 128's, but getting that extra 512 and then successfully folding the tiles into a 32768 likely wouldn't have been feasible, even if I had had more luck. I think this was enough for me for a while =D

rane 2y ago

How did you do animations for the menus and stuff?

mordae 2y ago

This doesn't make any sense. We should be celebrating 8 years, 16 years and so on.

rossant 2y ago
The true 10th anniversary actually happened 1000 years ago.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
Medox 2y ago
In 8+16 years from now we can celebrate 2048 the whole year. Still time for the author to implement an Easter egg until then.

101008 2y ago

This may be buried in the comments and you will never see it, but thank you very much Gabriele. Your game helped me in a very weird circumstance. I was afraid of flying, specially on the takeoff and landing (and turbulence as well, ha). So I read somewhere that if I focused on something else, it would help me. So for the past years, I played 2048 during takeoff and landing, and it worked. It helped me to focus on something else, not the airplane, and I started to enjoying more my trips. Now I don't need to do it anymore, but just for the experience I still do it when I fly. So thank you for helping me with my fear!

terabytest 2y ago
That’s amazing! Such a cool story. I’m really happy that 2048 was able to help you this way :)
richardzhang 2y ago
Always amazing to read about surprising positive impacts that a project can make in someone's life like this.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
bschwindHN 2y ago
This is bizarre. I came into this thread to make this exact same comment - I play 2048 religiously during takeoff, turbulence, and sometimes landing. It works really well, though if you were to watch a replay of my game, you could tell when turbulence hits because I start making faster and less logical moves :)
- 101008 2y ago
  I'm afraid again now...
- morelikeborelax 2y ago
  Very bizarre, as I also found it helped with this! I was only a First Officer at the time, but even as a Captain today I find playing 2048 during take off and landing really helps.

swarthy_avenger 2y ago

I played 2048 A LOT back when it came out. I still fire it up every now and then. Thanks Gabriele, what a fantastic game you have made.

windowshopping 2y ago

I have to ask, did the game make you rich?

Jerrrrrrry 2y ago

It is easy to underestimate any individual's contribution to society, especially if it can be (ridiculously) trivialized as "just a mindless game" (that hurt to type). 2048 has impacted our species. Seriously. I can assure you from an objective, subjective, authoritative, personal, and collective position: your game has saved many people their sanity, entertained millions, saved/wasted billions, inspired untold people into math, web dev, and game design. But most importantly, people didn't quit "mindless/thankless/frustrating/demeaning" jobs because their mind was _just_ adequately stimulated by your creation to continue to justify coming to work the next day. Not demanding enough to command full attention (until we get a 4096, then nothing else matters), but 'choring' enough (in the most charitable sense) to keep people from finding a more or less demanding time-fill, likely compromising their jobs. Jobs that help others, in an exponential way, sometimes. Even if this was an isolated incident, I can tell you, you will forever be top 5 (hyper) viral games by a solo developer. If a butterfly can cause a hurricane, 2048 could just as easily be the reason we survive the next filter, for all we know. You helped me help others help others. And you deserve to know that. BTW: I always blocked your ads (no offense, just cognitive stuff). Drop a donation link somewhere, please.

Devasta 2y ago

Store and/or access information on a device ( 723 partners included ) Consent + Develop and improve services ( 379 partners included ) Legitimate Interest Consent + Use limited data to select content ( 101 partners included ) Legitimate Interest Consent + Use limited data to select advertising ( 472 partners included ) Legitimate Interest Consent + Create profiles for personalised advertising ( 529 partners included ) Use precise geolocation data ( 547 partners included ) Consent + Actively scan device characteristics for identification ( 551 partners included ) If this doesn't describe the modern internet I don't know what else does.

LeifCarrotson 2y ago
Plus a requirement to subscribe to Amazon Prime if you want to unlock more DLC? chef's kiss FWIW, on desktop Firefox, between uBlock Origin, EFF's Privacy Badger, and Ghostery "Never Consent" cookie dismissal, I got no trackers, no cookies, no ads, and full site functionality.
hankchinaski 2y ago
Then don’t use it. People who keen on whining about this clearly don’t know anything about building a business.
- ziddoap 2y ago
  You do not need what was posted above to build a business.
  - lencastre 2y ago
    Buuuuuuurn
- Devasta 2y ago
  That you thought this was a post worth making, I'm embarrassed for you.
  - hankchinaski 2y ago

CAPSLOCKSSTUCK 2y ago

This is still the only mobile game I play (besides chess, if that counts). Thanks for creating such a fun piece of software. It's snappy, beautiful, and tastefully done.

ricoche 2y ago

I spent so many hours on this back in Campus, thank you for building 2048

kregasaurusrex 2y ago

I still remember how quickly this spread and people made their own versions, right about the same time as Twitch Plays Pokemon came out! I'm glad it's had such a positive impact both globally among your players and to your career. Praise helix!

thiht 2y ago

One of my finals during my masters degree required us to implement a 2048 engine using OCaml. I had a bit of practice with OCaml but this specific exercise really made something click in me. It made me understand how to leverage a type system to represent a state, and make impossible states impossible to represent. I don’t use OCaml anymore but this exercise has definitely made me a better developer. That’s in part thanks to OCaml, and in part thanks to 2048 so thank you for inventing the game :)

jooz 2y ago

Im curious on the real cost of the impact of this game had on big co. I remember everybody was playing non stop at work.

Nifty3929 2y ago

Fun game. I played for the first time and got a score of 3048, with my largest tile being 256 and no powerups used. Not sure if that's a good score or not. My one observation is that it didn't feel intellectually engaging until the board was fairly full. Until I got to ~2500 or so, I was just making random-ish moves that felt like they didn't matter much. So it took say 15min before I got to the "good part." It would be nice if the game could be modified in some way to get to the sweet spot earlier. Maybe starting from a mostly-full "puzzle" board, with varying levels of difficulty. Or if the early moves actually DO matter more - and my beginner brain just didn't realize it - maybe there's a way to explain that connection to newer players so that they engage their brain earlier on. Almost feels a bit like chess opening moves, which to a beginner might not feel very impactful, but to an experienced player they can see the connection from that one early pawn move to something meaningful later on in the game.

Normal_gaussian 2y ago
Its more like a Rubick's cube - there is a trick to it. Getting a single tile to 2048 is fairly easy once you know it, and practically a guarantee once you've had a bit of practice. The new powerups etc. are nice for removing a mistake, or for letting you get a score a little bit higher at the end game, but won't take you the distance unless you have good technique. A big part of the magic is getting your head round it - like any other logic puzzle.
- School-Cotton 2y ago
  Unlike the Rubik's cube, I think you can get good enough at 2048 to usually get the 2048-tile based purely on intuition, though, without consciously memorizing anything. I've never looked up a strategy guide to the game and just playing purely by instinct (using heuristics I've randomly discovered myself), I can usually get there. I'm curious what you mean by "the trick"!
Ringz 2y ago
All your ideas to make the game more interesting are solved: Just play Threes instead.

air7 2y ago

How time flies. I remember I wrote a zero-knowledge AI bookmarklet that did quite well... http://stackoverflow.com/a/23853848/632039 http://stackoverflow.com/a/23853848/632039

omoikane 2y ago

The new power ups are a nice addition that allowed me to reach 2048 more quickly :) I remember a coworker who said something along the lines of "I am free!" when he finally got 2048, and then never touched the game again. I hope the new power ups will make the game less addictive.

tritip 2y ago

What do you say to people when they accuse you of ripping off "Threes"? Is it true?

benatkin 2y ago
I liked Threes a lot, and I bought it. It was fun. Later I discovered 2048, and it was also fun, and felt like a bit of a different game to me. The author's reaction to 2048 rubbed me the wrong way a bit. https://asherv.com/threes/threemails/ https://asherv.com/threes/threemails/ Thankfully fans of 2048 pushed back and most decided that it's a simple enough game that you can't really expect there not to be clones, or clones of clones. I like this one: https://mdjorge.github.io/doge2048/ https://mdjorge.github.io/doge2048/ --- Edit: From the post about Threes: > We do believe imitation is the greatest form of flattery, but ideally the imitation happens after we’ve had time to descend slowly from the peak -- not the moment we plant the flag. Fair enough. Things moved too fast for that back then and they move even faster now. A coding AI could help create a ripoff.
- ultimafan 2y ago
  I do feel a bit bad for them. Putting so much work into a project only to have it cloned a week or two after they released it to much bigger fanfare (I'd never even heard of Threes up until this point but everyone I knew was goofing around on 2048 when it came out) has got to be soul crushing. But at the same time, this should really be a learning lesson to everyone- if your game or idea is simple enough to clone that someone can "rip it off" with a week of effort, you'd better damn well make sure your original excels in something that can't be cloned quite so quickly. Or not spend so much time working on it. Having only played 2048 and seeing how relatively polished and pleasing the presentation of it was for a so-called week of effort, I find it a bit baffling that it took the Threes team a year of work.
  - Ringz 2y ago
    Threes never really left the top 100 charts in the App Store. I think they are fine. Threes is the much better game IMO - 2048 gets boring after a while. I still play threes after all this time and it’s still satisfying.

hankchinaski 2y ago

I used to play this in high school. Great work you did. And I hope things turn out well for you.

mizzao 2y ago

What's with the premium version that's free with Amazon Prime?

torlok 2y ago

To add to the clone topic, 2048 was cloned from 1024, so any claims of being only inspired by Threes fall apart quickly. IMHO, the way you're trying to sell 2048 is revisionist history and just plain shit. You can't turn back time, and let the Threes creator have a moment to shine and profit from the design, but you can at least give credit where due, and not when 50 people call you out on it.

yawnxyz 2y ago

Thanks so much! I saw 2048 on hn back in the day (10 years?!) and loved it, and then I bought Threes! Which I still play idly today! On a sidenote: it's been years, but anyone else slightly annoyed that the "Out of Moves" text is still not centered?

nneonneo 2y ago

Thank you for building this game, Gabriele! I very much enjoyed playing the game - and later, building what was (at that time) the best AI for the game while procrastinating on my PhD! (https://github.com/nneonneo/2048-ai https://github.com/nneonneo/2048-ai, https://stackoverflow.com/a/22498940/1204143 https://stackoverflow.com/a/22498940/1204143) I'd actually built an AI for Threes some time earlier (https://github.com/nneonneo/threes-ai https://github.com/nneonneo/threes-ai), although (perhaps unsurprisingly) the 2048 AI turned out to be a lot more popular. The timing is pretty funny too - I was on a flight just two weeks ago that featured 2048 as one of the in-flight games, so I played it myself for a bit, got to 2048, then got my AI to get me to 4096 - and promptly crashed the whole app! Your implementation, even though it took just five days, was remarkably robust and fast and has held up really well all these years - real props to the great job you did. I guess now I'll have to update my AI for all the powerups you've added to the game :^)

chrismorgan 2y ago

Bug report: digits don’t show for me. (Interesting æsthetic, actually, unmarked tiles.) Firefox, Sway/Linux, Settings → Fonts → Advanced → “Allow pages to choose their own fonts, instead of your selections above” disabled, and web fonts blocked altogether via uBlock Origin.

rafram 2y ago
That’s not really surprising with those settings.
- chrismorgan 2y ago
  It is, actually. Firefox's PDF renderer on text meeting certain conditions is the only thing I've encountered breaking in a similar way (not rendering text), in almost five years of using this configuration. I expect it to just render with my chosen fonts. That's what everything else does.
kccqzy 2y ago
Unrelated: I really wish the browser setting of "Allow pages to choose their own fonts, instead of your selections above" can be a per-origin setting. There are a small number of websites that use web fonts tastefully but for the majority I would prefer my own fonts.

rcarmo 2y ago

I tried it and it is very nice, but I completely ignored the extra features :) My brain is just too hardwired to use cursor keys and doesn’t even think to look outside the box and click the buttons with a mouse, I guess.

time4tea 2y ago

Just another scam Internet surveillance. Why do you need to share tracking data with many hundreds of shady organisations.

r721 2y ago

My favorite 2048 clone is 2048 4D https://huonw.github.io/2048-4D/ https://huonw.github.io/2048-4D/

Aardwolf 2y ago

Question: why does it start at 2 instead of at 1?

arduanika 2y ago
The powers of 1 are less interesting.
- Aardwolf 2y ago
  2^0 is 1. The game doubles the number each time, so starting with two 1s would make a 2. It's weird to start with two 2s making a 4.

tucnak 2y ago

I love 2048 but the page linked in OP is a disgrace: it filled with ad trackers, and the game itself doesn't even work if they're blocked.

MatthewWilkes 2y ago

2048 is a brilliant game, I love it. I understand that it's been used widely (I even saw it on a plane IFE system last month) and that likely didn't generate much ot any income, but the first impression when opening this was a bit dodgy. There are over 700 'partners' you want me to consent to sending data to? Come on, you know that nobody could make an informed decision on that.

CodeWriter23 2y ago

Meh, wake me up when you release 16384. Just kidding, glad this can be a full time venture for you. Mixed feelings about this orbiting back into my field of view again. So far, having fun.

naikrovek 2y ago

> 2048 is now my full-time focus How? How does that game pay anywhere nearly enough to allow that?

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

hessart 2y ago

So nice! I remember playing it back in the day, and then forking your repo to make it 128 instead of 2048. Turns out the fork is still up. It's been literally 10 years. https://128.arthurhess.com https://128.arthurhess.com

darkerside 2y ago

I'm sorry, but that ad placement is really obnoxious. Blocking these cool, new power ups after someone is halfway into a game comes off as a dark pattern, whether it's intentional or not.

Neywiny 2y ago

Thank you. I've thoroughly enjoyed 2048 the past 10 years. The new one isn't showing the numbers for me, though. I'm on Firefox on Android. Classic one works perfectly. Works fine on Edge for mobile (only have it for situations like this where I'm tracing browser dependencies).

bryant 2y ago

So I just had a repeat experience playing the game that massively turned me off to replaying it. Was at 4096, and I tend to bunch up all of my numbers in sequential order like a snake, with the metaphorical head being the bottom left. Well, I was no longer able to avoid swiping down or left, so I had to swipe up. I had the full complement of two undos left, and 8 spare squares for numbers to appear. Three times in a row, a number appeared in the bottom left when I swiped up. Odds of which should be 1/512 unless the game biases in favor of certain squares for hidden difficulty. I pretty much decided not to play after that, because it was the third time that's happened. Not yet knowing what the actual code is that decides where new numbers appear, it frustrated me enough to not want to revisit this version of the game.

rythmshifter 2y ago

As a newcomer to this platform, I distinctly recall discovering this project as one of my earliest and most cherished memories of encountering engaging and rewarding endeavors within its community. Well done! My phone said this sounded more professional but I kind of hate it.

ialexpw 2y ago

This is surreal reading that this was 10 years ago - I'm sure we came across eachother on Facepunch back in the day and I remember all of the amusing threads. Congrats on this landmark.