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2048

• kyberias 13y ago
  Simple and creative! I like it a lot.
• grej 13y ago
  Love this! Just when you think that a genre like tile puzzle games has been completely done, something like this comes along and shows a new way of thinking about it. The most amazing thing about this game is how it manages to be so creative and different while being so simple.
  • greenpizza13 13y ago
    Keep in mind that this is a clone of the iOS game "threes."
  • terabytest 13y ago
    Thanks! I shouldn't take all the credit for it though. The game is basically a clone of the two games I've been inspired by, as an attempt to make my own version and learn new things along the way!
• peshkira 13y ago
  I love it! Really great and well done. I'd appreciate it, if someone can share a few more links with similar puzzlers on the web.
  • jamroom 13y ago
    This is just like Threes: http://asherv.com/threes/ http://asherv.com/threes/ I have it on my iPhone and it's fun.
  • mattw1810 13y ago
    If you've got an Android phone, Slide (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.pentapixel.slidefree https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.pentapixel...) is pretty similar (yet not quite the same).
• wmeredith 13y ago
  No one has mentioned it yet, but this is an in browser version of the excellent iOS app Threes: http://www.joystiq.com/2014/01/30/addictive-ios-puzzling-comes-in-threes/ http://www.joystiq.com/2014/01/30/addictive-ios-puzzling-com... (no affiliation, just a fan)
  • kylec 13y ago
    It's similar, but different. With Threes you combine 1s and 2s to make 3s, then similar numbers to double them. Also, the tiles in Threes only shift at most one spot at a time - with this game, everything's flung to the other side of the board.
  • Too 13y ago
    Quite similar to Tripple Town also.
  • willtheperson 13y ago
    I had more fun with this than Threes. I think it's how the tiles slide all the way over.
    • Yhippa 13y ago
      I agree, there's something satisfying about sliding all the things with just one keystroke. I wonder if it's like that desire to chuck things in parabolic arcs that made Angry Birds so popular? I actually bought Threes from the iOS App Store but I've spent much more time on this game for whatever reason.
  • smikhanov 13y ago
    It's much better than Threes because there's not a single reason why Threes should take almost 1 min to start on iPhone 4S.
    • psykovsky 13y ago
      Stealing all your contacts takes time, you know?...
• vrikis 13y ago
  I love this, fun to play :)
• farslan 13y ago
  Reminds me threes: http://asherv.com/threes/ http://asherv.com/threes/
  • GSimon 13y ago
    agreed, was just playing that moments before seeing this coincidentally.
• benesch 13y ago
  See also the original iPhone game: http://threesgame.com http://threesgame.com (Support the developers! It's a great game.) Or a truer JS clone: http://threesjs.com http://threesjs.com
  • xutopia 13y ago
    This game is not the same dynamic as Threes. Both are great games and worth checking out.
• brickcap 13y ago
  has anyone managed to beat it yet?
  • crusso 13y ago
    I think I should consider the 256 tile that I got in the second game a moral victory and quit my browser before I seriously trash my schedule today. :)
  • yeldarb 13y ago
    I did :) http://i.imgur.com/nf25AVZ.png http://i.imgur.com/nf25AVZ.png
    • brickcap 13y ago
      well done! I got only to a 512 block tile.
• dergachev 13y ago
  The source code's here, in case anyone is interested: https://github.com/gabrielecirulli/2048 https://github.com/gabrielecirulli/2048
• xsace 13y ago
  So I'm playing this since 10 minutes now and I have no idea what so ever I'm doing but it makes me feel like I'm performing well.
  • PakG1 13y ago
    10 minutes is farther than I got... I only now realize after the first run how to play the game. Dang, that can get addicting.
    • mcv 13y ago
      I got the hang of it during my first play, and ended up with 512 with a 256. I suspect there may be a system that lets you clean up the mess without creating too much new mess.
• greenpizza13 13y ago
  A clone of a clone. Threes is a fantastic game and deserves this publicity. That being said, this is a pretty well done clone clone.
• tillinghast 13y ago
  Maybe Monday morning is finding me too pedantic, but this is similar to Threes (http://threesgame.com http://threesgame.com), not just like Threes. There are some pretty obvious differences, from the movement of the tiles to the requirements for tile mergers (multiples of 2 rather than 3). The comments thus far do not make that distinction.
• terabytest 13y ago
  Hey, author here! I'm pretty overwhelmed that this made it to the top of HN without me even thinking of posting it here :) I made this game as a fun weekend project, inspired by another game called 1024 (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/1024!/id823499224 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/1024!/id823499224) and a spinoff called 2048 (http://saming.fr/p/2048/ http://saming.fr/p/2048/). I did mine to add animations to the latter, which was a bit hard to play without them. I discovered Threes only today, and I had no idea it looked so similar. I searched a bit and it appears as if 1024 is also inspired by Threes, so my game is probably the last of a long chain of clones :P The code is also open-source. You can find it here: https://github.com/gabrielecirulli/2048 https://github.com/gabrielecirulli/2048 Feel free to ask me anything, and thanks to everyone for the attention! :) By the way, my highscore is somewhere around 6000. Admittedly, I'm quite bad at playing my own game :P EDIT: Make sure not to get addicted! EDIT 2: The game now has swipe gestures and vim keys support (added by @rayhaanj)!
  • ctdonath 13y ago
    Make sure not to get addicted! Hah. It's binary crack.
  • iamdanfox 13y ago
    Out of curiosity, I'd love to hear what your Google Analytics graphs look like! How long to people spend playing it?
    • terabytest 13y ago
      Right now there are around 2100 people on the site and an average visit duration of around 4 minutes :)
      • deletes 13y ago
        How many reached 2048?
        • terabytest 13y ago
• Guillaume86 13y ago
  Nice, only thing I don't like in the game is that I do better scores just doing (repeat((left or right once) + (up till it doesn't work anymore))) than when I think about my moves...
• selter01 13y ago
  I wonder if there's an optimal strategy. Hmm.
  • Uhhrrr 13y ago
    So far the best heuristic I've found is to not let smaller blocks get trapped behind bigger ones.
  • deletes 13y ago
    I looks like the new block appears randomly. If the new block appeared even if you didn't move anything it would be easy, but they don't and that can ruin your strategy. I got to a 512 block in a corner and then got blocked by a new block in the same corner. I think the strategy is very simple. Pick a corner and mash keys that move into that corner. For example for bottom-right corner, just mash right and bottom. When you can't move anything anymore, move into the direction that keep your highest block in a corner and then continue to mash and hope that a new block doesn't appear anywhere close your highest block. I have gotten a 512 block in 2 minutes twice( score over 6000 ). It would only take time to reach more, and maybe actually look at the board instead of mashing; but that is problematic since the new block appears to be random. 1024 could be reached in under an hour and 2048 in a day, i think. It would be better if you got the position of the new block. That way the game would be solvable in some normal time.
  • leobelle 13y ago
    I seem to pretty much always get a higher score by button mashing, or going up down left right in rotation than by trying to figure it out. :(
  • seventytwo 13y ago
    I tried a "tumbling" strategy, where I would press right, down, left, up, repeating. You'll see that the blocks end up tumbling around. I was able to get 256 several times. I also tried a very deliberate (and slow) strategy of actively trying to build up the necessary matching blocks and was able to get to 512 with a score of 5900.
• seventytwo 13y ago
  Has anyone beaten this yet?
  • yeldarb 13y ago
    Yep! http://i.imgur.com/nf25AVZ.png http://i.imgur.com/nf25AVZ.png
    • seventytwo 13y ago
      Damn... Nice job. Did you use any particular strategy? Obviously the random "birth" of new tiles adds an element of luck to winning, but I'm sure you must have used some technique!
      • yeldarb 13y ago
        I try to keep the highest numbers at the top row (ideally with the highest in a corner, next highest next to it, next highest next to that, etc). I'm pretty sure I never used the down arrow in this game (sometimes you have to). If your high numbers end up in the middle you're kind of screwed.
• JoshTriplett 13y ago
  Quite a lot of fun. One minor nit: if the board is full, but you can make a move that will free up a space, you can make that move and the new tile will appear in the newly opened space, but then the game immediately ends afterward. EDIT: OK, apparently this only happens if there are actually no more moves; as long as moves remain the game continues. Also, hitting "space" reset the entire game; I'd expected it to either do nothing or add a tile without moving.
  • andyhmltn 13y ago
    That's intended. In 'Threes' for the iPhone you have to use that remaining block to solve more as you can see what's coming next.
• themoonbus 13y ago
  This is one of those games that I do best on my first try when I have no idea what I'm doing, and then do worse and worse the more I think I have a strategy. Fun though!
  • braum 13y ago
    exactly. I got up to 256 first try and it took quite a while before I ran out of open tiles. 2nd try hit the wall shortly after 128... third time it went so quick and I only had a single 64. addictive and ridiculousness! :-)
• GFunc 13y ago
  This is going to get me in trouble....thanks
• bromagosa 13y ago
  Ship it as a mobile app, seriously!
  • RealCasually 13y ago
    Check out Fives on Android--similar but I think way more polished, and well, on your phone: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rcg.fives https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rcg.fives
  • Nickoladze 13y ago
    Yeah I'm really enjoying it, would love it on Android. It's different enough from Threes and Fives to warrant its creation.
    • dlhavema 13y ago
      would definitely agree, its a really fun game!
• dubcanada 13y ago
  I found that smashing the arrow keys was the most effective way to play this game.
• Ethan_Mick 13y ago
  Great game! Love the simplicity! I played a round, and got to 512. But toward the end I wasn't sure if I was actually playing with a strategy, or just pressing buttons randomly with some thinking involved. So I built a script to randomly press the arrow keys[0]! I let it play a few games, and the highest it got to was 128 before consistently losing. So I guess you'll need some decent strategy to get to 2048. 0 - https://gist.github.com/Wayfarer247/9469272 https://gist.github.com/Wayfarer247/9469272
  • lifeformed 13y ago
    > So I built a script to randomly press the arrow keys[0]! I let it play a few games, and the highest it got to was 128 before consistently losing. So I guess you'll need some decent strategy to get to 2048. That's a great idea for testing the depth of simple games. It's good to know a baseline score: players should be getting to the 128 tile or better, or else they're doing really bad.
    • thronoprocrast 13y ago
      Losing that early could be almost as impressive as winning. Think about how hard it would be to miss every question on a multiple choice test.
  • BoppreH 13y ago
    If you remove one key it'll get to 256. I removed the `down` key and larger blocks started gathering on top, which was advantageous.
• veganarchocap 13y ago
  God damn that's addictive, final score: 3040 about an hour wasted at work :P Great concept though, love it.
• canistr 13y ago
  Fascinating game. Would love to see how an AI would tackle this.
  • shmageggy 13y ago
    Nearly beats it most of the time, beats it occasionally! https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7379821 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7379821
• adnam 13y ago
  Welp, there goes the rest of my day
• rabino 13y ago
  Interesting (somewhat unrelated) question came up at work: What's the theoretical max tile value you can get on Three.
• jheriko 13y ago
  neat little game :)
  • dmarlow 13y ago
    4884
• littledot5566 13y ago
  Managers around the world grieve as they know millions of man hours will be lost.
  • camus2 13y ago
    shhh... keep quiet or i'll get caught!
• deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
• breischl 13y ago
  Fun game! Now if only you can manage to get 2048 upvotes for it... :)
  • terabytest 13y ago
    Done! Did I win HN?
    • breischl 13y ago
      Looking at the amount of karma, I'd say yes. Yes, you did. Congratulations!
• richardlblair 13y ago
  Fuck you. okay, awesome game. Still, fuck you.
  • terabytest 13y ago
    I kind of hate myself too, I haven't been able to do anything other than playing since I finished building the game :P
    • richardlblair 13y ago
      I find it funny that you knew exactly what I meant by my comment, but HN decided to down vote me into oblivion. Whole well. That's HN for yea.
• throwaway_yy2Di 13y ago
  For those "playing" in the javascript console, here's one way to get a handle on the (inaccessibly scoped) game objects: GameManager.prototype.__actuate = GameManager.prototype.actuate; GameManager.prototype.actuate = function() { window.gm = this; this.__actuate(); } On the next move, the game object will exfiltrate itself into the global window namespace. gm.grid.eachCell(function(x,y,_) { gm.grid.cells[x][y] = new Tile({x:x, y:y}, 1024); }); gm.actuate();
  • terabytest 13y ago
    Heh, nice trick! The only way to get high score is to actually play, though :P
    • thronoprocrast 13y ago
      Not quite: http://i.imgur.com/Zr8piE7.png http://i.imgur.com/Zr8piE7.png Set it to a 6x6 grid.
      • thronoprocrast 13y ago
        Hey Steven, you should include the actual clickable URL. Noob
• chanux 13y ago
  Addictive! I have a suggestion that is different from the common. Other than taking this finely open game in to a walled garden, bring flattr or gittip there :).
• pedrocr 13y ago
  I think I have the beginning of a solution. The end result should be 2048 on the top-right corner (for the explanation). Always keep the highest value there. To do that never do a down without the right column filled and never do a left without the top row filled. Within those restrictions keep the top row in ascending order by building numbers on the left of the second row, so that they will match above and cascade right in powers of two. I did this successfully for a while and then had no other option but a down without the rightmost column filled and lost my placement. EDIT: A variation of this that works well is to only do up, left and right if at all possible. This keeps the highest values on top making it easier to match top-down. I've been stuck on 512 though.
  • chidevguy 13y ago
    I was able to get 2048 building off of your solution. As you said, always keep your highest number in the top right corner. Try to build the next highest numbers up along the right edge, so that you have say, 256, 128, 64, 32 along the right edge. Always keep 4 numbers there, and only use up/down/right. Then just focus on building whatever number you need next to double the bottom right number, so that you can "chain up" numbers along the right edge and double your highest number in the top right. Kind of hard to explain in words, but hopefully that helps!
    • pedrocr 13y ago
      Yep, this is pretty much the same solution with the right edge instead of the top edge. I got to 1024 and then blundered and couldn't get 2048. This thing is addictive though.
  • PeterisP 13y ago
    The key is to have a well defined 'edge' between filled and empty areas - so that the high-valued tiles are on the corned away from the emptiness where 2s spawn; and low-value tiles are on/near the border. Note that you can't afford to keep much unconnected duplicates - near the win point, you need to have 1024+512+256+128+64+32+16+8+4+2 which is 9/16 tiles filled already, so a few extra mid-value tiles cut your 'operating space' to near zero; so you must keep the high-values mostly ordered and agressively eliminate unneeded duplicates.
• AshleysBrain 13y ago
  Very cool. Spent a while trying to get a high score by thinking about it, but in the end managed to beat it just by pressing the arrow keys anticlockwise one after the other!
• brickcap 13y ago
  Are there any cheat codes?
  • bhassel 13y ago
    Right click -> Inspect element (in FF / Chrome)? All sorts of ways to "cheat" there, but not sure what that would accomplish.
    • brickcap 13y ago
      nothing it was just a joke...
• aeiowu 13y ago
  Beat it on my first try: http://cl.ly/image/023K3o2F3X2P http://cl.ly/image/023K3o2F3X2P
• jobigoud 13y ago
  Ok, I give up. I managed to get a 512 and a 256 but then there is so little place to build up…
• gyom 13y ago
  I never imagined that I would one day feel like I'm "downing in my own filth of useless powers of 2".
• PaulJulius 13y ago
  I managed to get 2048 on my first try. Different enough from Threes to stay interesting, but a lot of the same strategy applies. In Threes though, the number that appears has a higher chance of being a bigger number (24, 48, even higher later) the longer the game goes on. There were a few times I was almost stuck and was able to get out of it by continually moving in the same direction and sucking up 2s. http://cl.ly/image/462B1P0Y250T http://cl.ly/image/462B1P0Y250T
• Ellipsis753 13y ago
  I got a single square with 256 in it and a score of 2016 before I got bored. It's addictive and fun but a single game is much too long. I would like to lose a few times and improve but with a game this long I get bored before I've even lost the first time.
• daGrevis 13y ago
  Really addictive and well done! Wanted to add that the author also created HN Special, an extension for Chrome that makes HN look decent and adds some useful niceties. https://github.com/gabrielecirulli/hn-special https://github.com/gabrielecirulli/hn-special
• marukokinno 13y ago
  something strange happened the first time I clicked the link to this comment page, It automatically downloaded a file named item.pacht, and this comment page didnt open. when I tried to delete the file , OSX said "finder wants to make changes" . What can be that?
• secondhandvape 13y ago
  My entire agile team is now impeded because of this game.
• jfc 13y ago
  This is awesome.
• adamwong246 13y ago
  Monday's productivity: obliterated.
• tbenst 13y ago
  Made it to 1024: http://imgur.com/QQUXzCN http://imgur.com/QQUXzCN. Here's my routine: 1. "tumbler" until 128: up right down left, repeat 2. Get 128 on the top in the middle two slots. Really any edge works, but I'll say top for simplicity. Keep a semi-large value on the side with one open slot in top row to prevent sliding. The other side on top is used for staging 3. Only use left, right and up. Never let a smaller value get trapped. This rule can only be violated to avoid filling the top three rows with the fourth empty. I lost this game because I mistakenly filled the top three rows, forcing me to use a down. I think this strategy is viable to win however
  • terabytest 13y ago
    That's cool! My current strategy is just to keep going until I lose. Admittedly, I'm pretty bad at my own game :P
  • latortuga 13y ago
    This strategy worked quite well for me up until right around where you got to, 11532. Certainly much more effective than just trying to wing it without a strategy.
  • jmagoon 13y ago
    used the same strategy, lost at about 11.5K after I had to use a down after filling my top two rows. definitely works well.
  • quickpost 13y ago
    Excellent strategy. Got painfully close to victory - 16,516 total.
  • tbenst 13y ago
    Won on my first try after my original post! http://imgur.com/rnGYLY9 http://imgur.com/rnGYLY9 Here's the new routine: 1. "tumbler" until 128 can move to the upper left corner. 2. The highest number on the board is always in the upper left. Make the top row descend left to right. 3. Before combining values on the top row, keep hitting up until one of the lower rows will not combine from a left. 4. Often, the slot you are filling (eg, top right or one below top right) will have a two. Alternate pressing "left" and "right" until a two appears, allowing you to combine 5. Keep the second row locked as soon as possible with unique values ASCENDING left to right. This way you can use up, left and right without moving the slot you are filling on the far left of the second row. There are a few other pattern recognition tricks that you'll pick up to aid in filling a slot for higher values. A few other misc tips: * try to keep high number squares close together, and merge up to the top row as soon as possible. Otherwise, they will just close off a slot * You may get a 2 trapped on the top row blocked by a higher value below it. Unfreeze the second row by combining squares & hope that a two appears in the new opening * only 2's or 4's will appear. They (always") appear in the space left behind by the previous movement
• robocaptain 13y ago
  Ugggg... why was this posted during the 7-Day Roguelike Competition week?? :)
• tectonic 13y ago
  Score of 5756 by hitting [left, right, up] repeatedly. Is there a pattern that always wins?
• bduerst 13y ago
  Edit: I have completely misunderstood this game. Very fun though.
  • trendoid 13y ago
    I think u misunderstood the game. u need to get the number 2048, not 2,0,4,8 in some order. Your score will be around 6k atleast if u win. Also, shit loads of time 'wasted'.
    • fredsted 13y ago
      he got over 8000 points i think he's joing
• stanmancan 13y ago
  I just repeat Left => Up => Left => Up until I can't move any further, then "Right => Up => Left" before going back to the left up combo. Keeps the largest values top left and the values decrease towards the bottom right. Stacks the values well for combining and you can easily get 512 => 1024 without even looking.
• mikemai2awesome 13y ago
  The first few times I tried to play, I kept thinking the objective was to get the number 2048 across the first row. Haha.
• K0nserv 13y ago
  I was horrible at this so I tried randomizing it instead. So far I am still beating random at 256, the randomized script has reached 128 at most https://gist.github.com/k0nserv/9472334 https://gist.github.com/k0nserv/9472334 EDIT: Script reached my score of 256 EDIT2: Script reached 512
• jamesxwatkins 13y ago
  Everything I had planned today has been put on hold until further notice. :)
• jay-saint 13y ago
  A seriously great way to spend 30 minutes on hold with Verizon.
• camus2 13y ago
  nice!
• JacksonGariety 13y ago
  I have some interesting results. The first time I played the game I scored around 3000 points. After that, I tried to slow down and focus on keep the same kinds of numbers together, but after that, I couldn't get past 2250. So I wrote a script that used Math.random() to hit the array keys continually, and the score was much lower: 1000. Then I tried the sequence RIGHT UP LEFT DOWN over and over instead of Math.random() I scored significantly higher than all of them, in the 4000s. Does anyone know why this might be?
  • lysium 13y ago
    I don't know, but I can confirm.
  • valtron 13y ago
    Tried 3 games, and the scores were 2700, 1200, 5000. So maybe. But then I wrote a function to play it for me: var manager = new GameManager(4, KeyboardInputManager, HTMLActuator); function play() { manager.restart(); var m = 0; while (!manager.over) { manager.move(m); m = (m+1)%4; } return manager.score; } ... and that gets scores between 500 and 3000. (Edit) Histogram of 500 runs: 0k: *** 1k: ******************* 2k: **************** 3k: ********* 4k: * 5k: * 6k: *
    • VMG 13y ago
      Which is about the same score you get if you concentrate and really try hard to get a high score. I think this might be a "hacker" version of the slot machine - the player feels as if he's in control while in fact the outcome is pretty random.
      • cordite 13y ago
        Yeah, when I tried a systematic approach, I was getting better results than when I tried thinking about it. Left Down Right Down repeat.
        • 13y ago
• instakill 13y ago
  This simple game really shows how amazing the human mind is. I've never played any variant of this game before and when I first started I was blind to the mechanics of how this worked. I was moving so slowly and would fill up the board quite quickly. After playing this game for 2 hours now my fingers are moving faster than my conscious mind can really follow. In my last game I was doing combo moves taking "2" blocks to "64" blocks in mere keystrokes. I've been surprised several times when things work out.
  • terabytest 13y ago
    That's true! I noticed it as well, and it's pretty awesome.
• summerdown2 13y ago
  Very addictive and lots of fun :)
• Globz 13y ago
  Very fun and good looking game! Somehow I find it easier than Threes, awesome game!!
• dzink 13y ago
  The game is super addictive and I figured out a way to get to 11000 in the first hour. It's actually an excellent analogy for social network-type products and any business really. If your users belong to different clusters and similar clusters don't meet, there is little value and the network doesn't become more valuable for anyone. By focusing on the same corner scenario you help similar clusters find each-other consistently and thus amplify value to each-other. I took over one corner and keep stacking on to it with blocks of increasing value, essentially never moving out of it. If you move out of your corder, a different cluster takes hold in it and then everyone in that corner will hesitate to buy into you, even if the other cluster is small - it becomes a thorn in your butt. Great job! I learned something new today (Plague has also been very educational for me so far, but for viral dynamics.)
• jader201 13y ago
  First of all, kudos on a well designed game. It's obvious you've made something pretty addictive, as evident by the place on HN and the responses you're getting here. One thing I've found out is that you can pretty easily get to at least 512 or higher just by repeating the following pattern: right + down + left + down Try it out and you'll quickly see how it works. Any other similar pattern would also work: right + down + right + up up + right + up + left left + down + left + up I will also sometimes break the pattern to consolidate some of the larger numbers when opportunities present themselves. But other than that, I usually stick to the pattern. Of course, it will only get you so far, because you will eventually run out of space to keep the pattern working. But it will get you past the first few thousand points (512 or higher).
  • Pxtl 13y ago
    Yeah, same here. As long as you keep your high numbers against once side and the low numbers against the other, it's not hard. Pick one direction that you never ever use and you do fine.
  • TheCapn 13y ago
    I managed to beat it following a basic pattern similar to yours: 1) Mash up-left (or towards any corner) until blocks stop moving 2) Press right 3) Start over The trick is to keep the high numbers in the top corner so the new numbers don't spawn behind it, you basically start building towards that corner and things start to work themselves out. Like you, I had to do a bit of actual logic near the end, you can see that I overshot by a small margin and ended up with a 128 block too.... http://i.imgur.com/NA92d3G.png http://i.imgur.com/NA92d3G.png
    • lotharbot 13y ago
      This works remarkably well. There are some spots where you have to apply logic -- in particular, I found that I progressed best when I built out the top row with my highest blocks (and then push/cascade my next highest block into the top when it got to be high enough) and I occasionally had to mash up-right rather than up-left to make that happen.
  • 13y ago
• jmnicolas 13y ago
  I don't know if I should thank you, curse you or burn my computer. I will choose the lesser evil : burn the computer ! Thanks ;-)
• gulbrandr 13y ago
  What an amazing game, I like it very much! Kudos to the creator for the perfect execution and design.
• visualR 13y ago
  Touch support please!
  • terabytest 13y ago
    It's there!
• Aardwolf 13y ago
  Brilliant game, such simple concept but very addictive. Never seen this before. I love it.
• thomasfoster96 13y ago
  The best thing about this game is that you can press the arrow keys randomly for about five minutes and anyone walking past thinks you're incredibly good at the game. Just make sure you lose after they walk past.
• sekasi 13y ago
  A little bit too similar to 'threes' on the app store.. I like it, but again, it's too much of a ripoff.
• ISL 13y ago
  2048! Took ~4-5 hr. Thank you!
• just2n 13y ago
  A simple strategy of building along one side will get you to a 1024 tile every time, but getting to 2048 seems largely dependent on RNG. If you get tiles spawning where you want them, it's very easy. If not, it can actually be impossible. It's unfortunate that RNG plays a significant role.
• josteink 13y ago
  Animation doesn't seem to work in Firefox. Does nobody test in Firefox anymore? This WebKit monoculture is getting quite anything. It's msie all over again...
  • Joeri 13y ago
    As a part-time msie user i can assure you the webkit monoculture has had the same negative consequence on that side of the scale, in fact, it's worse on msie than firefox. It seems like nobody does cross-browser testing anymore now that safari and chrome hit a critical marketshare treshold, a bit like how nobody cares about their yslow scores anymore now that browsers are fast at executing javascript.
  • darsham 13y ago
    Working fine here with Firefox on Win7.
  • terabytest 13y ago
    Are you sure you aren't using an outdated cache? I updated it to work with Firefox when I first saw the huge amounts of traffic coming in. Maybe try refreshing a few times.
  • megablast 13y ago
    Worked for me in Firefox 27 on a Mac.
• tptacek 13y ago
  Why do I feel like another good name for this game would be "8 years of running a startup"?
• beshrkayali 13y ago
  Just pure awesomeness! Been playing it for like an hour :)
• chaoskid 13y ago
  I didn't do anything at work today. Thanks.
• fdej 13y ago
  I got a score of 12640, not far off... Very simple strategy: propagate large values upwards (never press down).
• VonGuard 13y ago
  I've found simply pushing up, left, down, right, I can routinely outdo the score I can attain by actually playing with thought.... Kind of disappointing, but then I lost hours to this already. Fabulous game!
• srahsrahyoung 13y ago
  By tapping the arrows in a clockwise pattern, left-up-right-down-left-etc I got 512 and a score of 6360.
• hkbarton 13y ago
  Stop me! I can't stop to play this! 45min passed!
• taternuts 13y ago
  This thing is evil - stop killing my time!!!! Great work!
• amjaeger 13y ago
  this is driving me crazy
• Link- 13y ago
  Quick and dirty 'dumb' solver (might require manual intervention sometimes): var manager = new GameManager(4, KeyboardInputManager, HTMLActuator); // Pattern definition (0: Up, 1: Right, 2: Down, 3: Left) var pattern = [1, 2, 3, 2]; // Pattern Repeater var i = 0; // Interval var solverInterval = window.setInterval(function() { // Check if game is over if (manager.over) clearInterval(solverInterval); // Repeat pattern if (i % pattern.length == 0) i = 0; // Execute the move manager.move(pattern[i]); i++; }, 200); Best pattern found so far is "var pattern = [1, 0, 3, 0];" I reached 1024 with it. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/21387598/1024-Best.png https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/21387598/1024-Best.png
• honksillet 13y ago
  While we are throwing around clones of threes, here is my SEXY clone of titled Menage a Threes. Heh. http://www.kongregate.com/games/honkskillet/menage-a-threes http://www.kongregate.com/games/honkskillet/menage-a-threes Also, protip: to get high score choose one direction that you will never push towards. You'll end up with a gradient of high value tiles on one side, lower on the other, which desirable.
• userbinator 13y ago
  I decided to take a look just because I saw this: 2048 (gabrielecirulli.github.io) 1337 points by frederfred 8 hours ago
  • benjamincburns 13y ago
    Aye. Same here... http://imgur.com/SMRKbPk http://imgur.com/SMRKbPk
• _eqet 13y ago
  Complete time fuck
• granttimmerman 13y ago
  Hey guys! I made a multiplayer version of this game in about an hour or so. (Twitch plays pokemon style) http://hnplays2048.herokuapp.com/ http://hnplays2048.herokuapp.com/ Check it out! Or clone it! https://github.com/grant/hnplays2048 https://github.com/grant/hnplays2048
  • granttimmerman 13y ago
    Working on syncing atm...
  • BoppreH 13y ago
    I got a 1024 and a 512 playing alone, then somebody appeared and screwed the game in 10 seconds. The "Twitch plays pokemon style" is an very apt.
  • terabytest 13y ago
    That's pretty funny! Well done!
  • granttimmerman 13y ago
    It's a ton better now. :)
• mightybyte 13y ago
  Oh, so close. Got a ways into the 1024 tile with a score of 12236. http://imgur.com/09f1Oj6 http://imgur.com/09f1Oj6
• tracyma 13y ago
  what's the key to get high score?
• mattholtom 13y ago
  Dude, what a mechanic that is! Just spent 1/2 hour in no time. Expand featureset, apply to PSN, profit.
• PButcher93 13y ago
  Depressing that my highest block so far after ~1hr play time is less than the number of upvotes this HN post has. Great game by the way!
• SmileyKeith 13y ago
  This is a great game!
• seanv 13y ago
  booom 3688 http://awesomescreenshot.com/0db2gytp66 http://awesomescreenshot.com/0db2gytp66 (is that good??)
  • PButcher93 13y ago
    No, not really. Check some of the other screenshots in this thread. Keep trying! :)
• adispen 13y ago
  It was inevitable. Twitch Plays 2048(http://www.twitch.tv/twitchplays2048 http://www.twitch.tv/twitchplays2048)
• noonespecial 13y ago
  Oh! My productivity! It's like the "great sudoku disaster of '02" all over again!
• Dave_Rosenthal 13y ago
  I wrote a version myself in python and have been playing with strategies. It seems fairly resistant to simple greedy strategies (maximize highest score/maximize empty squares/etc). In terms of "blind" strategies [up, right, down, left]* works pretty well, but [up, right, up, left]* is by far the best I've found. It gets to 512 about 30% of the time (!), with about 0.2% hitting 1024. Still haven't seen a "win" using the blind strategy in several 10,000s of runs.
• chavesn 13y ago
  Not many posting winning scores, so here's mine: 2048 and 20368 points http://imgur.com/c3aHuT4 http://imgur.com/c3aHuT4 I'm not going to claim it was first try. Probably my tenth. However, I got much better at avoiding the key mistakes: - Always keep your highest number in a corner - Use the rest of that edge as a "staging area" for the components that can next double the highest tile. Work the other tiles toward the opposite corner on that side and then double them upward into the highest corner. - When you double the highest corner, you'll expose the "staging area" side. During this time, quickly work number back to fill that side so you avoid being forced to move the highest number out. - NEVER let yourself fill a 3x4 grid. This will force you to move the highest column away from the edge and will probably end the game in a handful of turns.
  • dwd 13y ago
    20484 after about two hours. A few close calls and at times I felt like I was playing Tower of Hanoi leveling up areas. Only pushed up twice. Final part was fast as all you need is two 128 blocks, one 256, a 512 and the 1024.
  • tempestn 13y ago
    21304 on my second try after reading your advice. (Probably 8th play or so overall.) Good advice. :) http://imgur.com/uAZYb1s http://imgur.com/uAZYb1s
  • cousin_it 13y ago
    Yeah, good advice. Took me about a day of playing, finally won with 21276 points.
  • reeses 13y ago
    With this technique, the lowest I've scored is in the 6,000s, and that was when I veered from the protocol. (That bloody 3×4)
  • lilsunnybee 13y ago
    Won with a score of 20252 thanks to your tips. And 3x4 grid isn't impossible to get out of, but you need some luck and a plan (like your staging area)
• hayksaakian 13y ago
  5000 pts just doing up, down, left, right I scored worse by actually thinking and applying strategy. this IS a difficult game.
• giis 13y ago
  First try scored 2908 Its a very addictive game! Good work!
• platypii 13y ago
  Totally nerd sniped on this one. Will never get those hours back :-) Meta question: Would it be possible to get 4096?
• xerophtye 13y ago
  Why isn't this working for me? Screenshot: http://imgur.com/9QzI3Z2 http://imgur.com/9QzI3Z2
  • flaxin 13y ago
    what's the blue thing around the screen? am DEFINITELY sure it's not hardware because it's working on my SUPER FAST laptop (1.1 Dual Core, intel HD, Firefox 27.0.1) so am sure YOU did something
    • xerophtye 13y ago
      the blue thing.... windows XP (it's my work PC, don't ask) Oh and browser is FireFox 27.0.1 I suppose i'll have to just check this at home to figure out what the fuss is all about
• cordite 13y ago
  After about 14 minutes, I got to 1024. It was enjoyable, but is hard when you can't swap values. http://puu.sh/7r2eH.png http://puu.sh/7r2eH.png
• daleco 13y ago
  I finally won! 2048 with a score of 20556. This game is evil!
  • daleco 13y ago
    My strategy is to always try to keep the high number blocks on one edge of the square. The highest block should be in the corner, then the blocks should be sorted by decreasing. E.g : 512 256 128 64... http://imgur.com/PNRIfW6 http://imgur.com/PNRIfW6
• benkitty 13y ago
  Here's my Processing.js clone in 42 lines: http://www.ktbyte.com/textbook/gamewalkthroughs http://www.ktbyte.com/textbook/gamewalkthroughs
• mightybyte 13y ago
  Finally won with a score of 20548. At first I was using a strategy of getting the biggest number into a corner. This follows a pattern of mostly up-right-up-right-... with an occasional left or down thrown in to get unstuck. This approach can pretty reliably get you to 512 in the corner without much trouble. But eventually this method saturates the available "storage" space with an inefficient pattern of tiles up to the diagonal. Then you have to start changing things up and continuing becomes tricky. Then I tried the approach mentioned here of left-down-right-down-left... in a very mechanical fashion. I believe that this is very likely the optimal mindless strategy. It works amazingly well. As long as you never hit up, it fills things very efficiently and the biggest numbers percolate down towards the middle of the bottom row. The way I finally won was to take this second approach and augment it with some periods of trying to get the biggest number in the corner. Start with ldrd until you get some 64s or 128s, then slow down and play catch-up with a corner. Then go back to ldrd. Occasionally stopping at strategic places to consolidate things also seems to help quite a bit. All in all, a very fun game with some interesting properties.
• Pxtl 13y ago
  Done it! I rule! And now my evening is wasted. Good game.
• scoofy 13y ago
  I feel like a crazy person, but when i play this game for a while, screen text appears smaller. Like it's messing with my eyes or something. Does anyone else feel this happening?
  • chingjun 13y ago
    You're not alone.
• janson0 13y ago
  First Try: 2068 pts. 256 highest block...
• jigneshhk 13y ago
  Awesome loving it!
• reignsly 13y ago
  I just scored 21748. Oh men It's Addictive :)
  • reignsly 13y ago
    Here my Proof :) https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bz9_OO8kXRkfaExtc0JBMUVoNTg/edit?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bz9_OO8kXRkfaExtc0JBMUVoNTg...
• Morphling 13y ago
  Why is there no win state if you get 2048?
• mauricio-OH 13y ago
  It took me 5 attempts: http://d.pr/i/vxBd http://d.pr/i/vxBd The key is big numbers at the bottom
• mathgladiator 13y ago
  BAM! 20880 points! Got to 2048
• aeon10 13y ago
  Wrote a script which plays using a simple greedy approach. Chooses the current best option. Doesn't seem to get past 512 so far. It does however consistently get till 256. Just copy the code in the console and restart the game (space bar) to run. Does anybody have a better approach? Other than randomize and trying your luck? Or maybe that is the best algorithm for this case.. https://gist.github.com/AeonAxan/9482114 https://gist.github.com/AeonAxan/9482114
• intull 13y ago
  Is this the most upvoted most in HN? Maybe HN wants the number of votes to be 2048 :)
• ddanielou 13y ago
  Won with 21056, after about one billion failed games. Man, that game is the ultimate procrastination machine: rids you of absolutely all of your time and gives you the feeling that you actually accomplished something.
• MattBearman 13y ago
  What a fucking game! Seriously, best game I've played in ages, and I only made it to 512. I don't think I'm gonna get much done today...
• deevus 13y ago
  2732 just by spamming keys for 10 seconds.
• IE5point5 13y ago
  Weak game to be honest, it's tedium and meaningless for 10 minutes then the actual game begins for the next 2
• gavinpc 13y ago
  The first step is admitting that you have 2^N problems.
• pointernil 13y ago
  And now we start the social experiment: "Will 2048 ever reach 2048 points on HN? And how long will it stay at exact that number of points?" Good luck everyone! ;)
  • wiredfool 13y ago
    Unfortunately, no. It hit 2089 Tues. morning PDT.
• frevd 13y ago
  Couldn't figure out how to play it at first - because in IE11 it doesn't work as intended - check your code.
• arijitraja 13y ago
  I was searching on google and quora trying to know what are ideal posts for hackers on HN. Thanks - your post just just answered my question!
• DrBazza 13y ago
  This is annoyingly addictive.
• jballanc 13y ago
  I can't help but feel like there's a fairly simple heap invariant hiding in the solution here...
• dblotsky 13y ago
  Correct me if I'm wrong, but it takes a minimum of 1024 turns to win the game.
• fractalb 13y ago
  addictive
• apunic 13y ago
  'conceptually similar to Threes' should have been 'stolen from Threes'
• duochrome 13y ago
  I don't get it...
• karanA 13y ago
  When does game get over? I mean is there some threshold number of moves?
• Link- 13y ago
  This is so close to 2048 upvotes btw.. (1997 so far)
• sdegutis 13y ago
  Please add "undo" feature. Thank you.
• jackgavigan 13y ago
  Productivity approaching zero...
• kaushikt 13y ago
  There are minor differences between this and threes
• stefek99 13y ago
  After reading some comments I finally understood... It's not about creating [2] [_] [4] [8] line of tiles, but summing them so there is a tile of value '2048' (silly me)
• karangoeluw 13y ago
  Ok maybe I'm missing it, but why is this game huge? I like this game, but I fail to see why it is THE top post on HN ever!
• abiglan 13y ago
  Egads this is excellent! As others have mentioned, would love to see a 5x5 variation and also be allowed to "keep going" after getting to 2048 to see how far you can go. I was disappointed that it ended and I had about half the squares empty and -might- have been able to get a 512 on the board as well. But just fantastic. Perfect balance of "speed when I want to blast through the easy levels" and "I need to think about the best next move" as well as try to construct an algorithm that helps get me to the endgame!
• throwaway420 13y ago
  Last 3 hours nothing but this. Fuck I think I'm addicted. Congrats on the next flappy bird.
• kamweti 13y ago
  Don't play while cooking, I've learned my lesson
• ekspreso 13y ago
  Wow, after nearly 5 hours I managed to win it. Great game. :)
• mavhc 13y ago
  I feel like this game is a metaphor for buying SD cards. Finally beat it, 20588.
  • dwd 13y ago
    If only you could morph those old 2Gbs into 4Gbs, into 8Gbs...
• AnitoKid 13y ago
  Great game! Addicting! And I kid you not!
• jliptzin 13y ago
  This game is ridiculously addictive
• reignsly 13y ago
  Guys. I win :P I have created my own patterns and methods. Tada! I got my 2048 tile :) So happy https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bz9_OO8kXRkfY0RWdzZ6cDA4RDQ/edit?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bz9_OO8kXRkfY0RWdzZ6cDA4RDQ...
• hammadfauz 13y ago
  I won! Woohoo! https://scontent-b-ams.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/t1.0-9/p75x225/1888714_10152325644136660_846950927_n.jpg https://scontent-b-ams.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/t1.0-9/p75x...
• amjaeger 13y ago
  finally beat it
• tanushree 13y ago
  This game feels like life. I plan and make a move. Some pieces move exactly as I had wanted. A bunch of other pieces that I wasn’t looking at, also move. Some of these unexpected results surprise me and make me happy, I even subconsciously take credit for them. Some others, I don’t even notice. It’s okay, there is too much going on. Sometimes it feels too hard and pointless to plan, so I am pressing the arrows almost randomly. Need a break from thinking and taking responsibility. I just hope that I am going in the “right” direction. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. It’s also hard to tell. Ah well. Now I’ve been doing pretty well at this for a while, I am getting pretty good I think, I have it all under control. A few moves later, before I even know it …. oops! suddenly it’s all a mess! :( But there are miracles also. I’ve been in this mess for a bit now and it’s not much fun. It’s slowed down and my heart is not in the right place. Suddenly, a couple of moves later, I am totally back in the game! I don’t know if I know this, but it was barely my doing! Of course, it’s this elusive goal (of 2048 or 42 or whatever else), it’s the reason why I keep going. I am pretty sure it’ll be really cool once I get there :)
• chx 13y ago
  http://i.imgur.com/LeGXQhA.png http://i.imgur.com/LeGXQhA.png while I couldn't beat this, I believe this to be one of the highest score games possible :)
• lrem 13y ago
  I finally won it! https://www.dropbox.com/s/4cmpwguulkbaktu/Screenshot%202014-03-12%2015.30.45.png https://www.dropbox.com/s/4cmpwguulkbaktu/Screenshot%202014-... Now, back to life...
• keren778 13y ago
  I wanna my productivity back for me paper!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• freefrancisco 13y ago
  Finally solved the damn thing!
• jozydapozy 13y ago
  This script will give you a keyboard-shortcut to skip the 'boring beginning' of the game. Run it a few times to get a nice starting point: function arrows(key) { var eventObj = document.createEvent("Events"); eventObj.initEvent("keydown", true, true); eventObj.which = key; document.dispatchEvent(eventObj); } document.onkeypress = function (e) { e = e || window.event; if (e.charCode = 122) { for (y=0; y<=100; y++) { arrows(39); arrows(38); arrows(37); arrows(38); } } }; var divje = document.createElement('div'); divje.innerHTML = "Press 'z' to fast forward ;)"; divje.style.position = 'fixed'; divje.style.padding = '10px'; divje.style.top = '10px'; divje.style.left = '10px'; document.body.appendChild(divje); (some js based on script from varyform)
• ssully 13y ago
  Finally had a chance to play Three's since it came out on android today and it honestly just made me want to play this more. The games are very similar, but 2048 is just more enjoyable to me.
• rhapsodyv 13y ago
  It's the best of HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/best https://news.ycombinator.com/best ... more than 2x of the second!!!!
• ponytech 13y ago
  After having beaten 2048 we thought "what's next?". And we made 4096 : https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7386557 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7386557 :)
• johncoltrane 13y ago
  Thank you, you effectively turned my 3 hours daily commute in instant teleportation.
• Link- 13y ago
  Has this game beaten the record for HN front-page time? It's been 4 days now!
• insider03 13y ago
  awesome game! very addictive!
• alxndr 13y ago
  I forked the repo and removed the "win" at getting tile 2048, so the game continues: http://alxndr.github.io/2-n/ http://alxndr.github.io/2-n/
• sebnukem2 13y ago
  I want my life back :(
• whitecrow 13y ago
  Is anybody trying for score run, avoiding to make 2048? 29436 is my best so far. https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/t1.0-9/1911898_794337600594354_174705885_n.jpg https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/t1.0-...
• bitswreck 13y ago
  2048! Took ~2 hours. One evil game! Great job Gabriel.
• rpwverheij 13y ago
  still playing now and then -_- switched from stair tactics to snake tactics. http://i.imgur.com/KZtO7Es.jpg http://i.imgur.com/KZtO7Es.jpg (try to keep the snake as short as possible)
• arkad 13y ago
  Ha! Finally there! Score 26968 http://imgur.com/1PdBaZy http://imgur.com/1PdBaZy Time killer of the year! ;)
• palanic 13y ago
  Scored 21480 and won the game. It' nice.
• acjohnson55 13y ago
  I eventually won and went on to score 32420, eventually losing after getting a second 1024 on the board. I'm fairly certain a 4096 is achievable. The cardinal rule, as many have said, is to keep one side filled, in descending order, with your largest piece in one corner. Once you have that side filled, you have to make sure that any time you have a duplicate on that row that you: (1) only ever shift toward your largest number (2) ideally have a parallel row that will not shift before you do (1) Until you can refill your last row, circumstances may lead you to have to move in the forbidden direction, which could wreck the whole game. Point (2) ensures that you can fill your back row with another piece immediately, restoring 3 directions of moves as quickly as possible. If you end up with any 2's on your back row, you must build them up to higher numbers ASAP. Last thing you want is buried 2's. Once your numbers start getting high, I think it makes sense to use the front two rows exclusively for 2's, 4's, and the occasional 8, but to shift 8's to the third row as soon as possible. I've found that to actually finish once you have all the pieces you need, it may make sense to break script, but if you want to go on to try to make 4096, you may want to carefully stay on script. I've found that in tricky situations when I want to combine large value pieces that are just not in alignment, it makes sense to try to slide lower value pieces under one to "boost" one of the others into alignment. The ability to do this makes it valuable to keep your combining pieces in the middle of the board. Lastly, when you have multiple possible moves, make the move that takes most advantage of the piece that's about to appear, either because you can quickly combine the new piece or because it can "boost" another piece into alignment. Follow this advice, and you will be a star!
  • renang 13y ago
    Reaching 4096 is achievable. I've just done it! http://i.imgur.com/JhwQzln.png http://i.imgur.com/JhwQzln.png
  • renang 13y ago
    I believe the largest tile you manage to get is 65536, that is if every random number falls in the perfect place. And this would be the largest score you could get on the board: 2 4 8 16 256 128 64 32 512 1024 2048 4096 65536 32768 16384 8192
• vnagpal 13y ago
  i discovered it while in office ...and now half of my office is addicted to it.
• rpwverheij 13y ago
  4096! Can I stop playing now? http://i.imgur.com/uFa88W5.jpg http://i.imgur.com/uFa88W5.jpg
• marcosd 13y ago
  I made my own version, Triads: http://lojueguito.weebly.com/triads.html http://lojueguito.weebly.com/triads.html
• ajvdmeij 13y ago
  Check this out: a student of mine made an automatic solver: http://timvisee.com/2048/ http://timvisee.com/2048/
• dlhavema 13y ago
  Gotta give this another bump, the current XKCD comic is paying tribute to this game: http://xkcd.com/1344/ http://xkcd.com/1344/ it really is an amazing addictive game :) thanks again!
• edwinyzh 13y ago
  Thanks to the author, I've decided it's a game for my 7-year old boy :)
• lerg 13y ago
  I've made a version of 2048 on Hexagonal Board - check it out https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spiralcodestudio.hexled https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spiralcode... It's free and has no ads, so enjoy! I guarantee you will like it.
• amyunus 13y ago
  Great! Now I can play it from my mobile browser. LOL. Anyway I could win twice in a day, by using the same algorithm. But still challenging and fun though.
• relampago 13y ago
  Score: 30896, I quit
  • relampago 13y ago
    https://www.dropbox.com/s/fdry7b3hsomikm0/2048.png https://www.dropbox.com/s/fdry7b3hsomikm0/2048.png
• anjali16 13y ago
  Hi I solved the puzzle
• a5steve 13y ago
  argh- wish i never started playing... :) came close to the 8192 block, messed up near the end. points? not sure if it matters - 71,000+... like lining up the blocks descending sequentially starting in the top left hand corner, and then creating s serpentine pattern. try to keep the big numbers in top left corner for as long as possible!