2048

2048 is a sliding-number puzzle you can play in the browser: a quiet 4x4 board, two tiles, and one rule that keeps unfolding. Swipe or press an arrow and every tile travels as far as it can. When two tiles with the same number meet, they merge into the next power of two. A pair of 2s becomes 4. Two 4s become 8. The first real goal is a 2048 tile. After that the board is still yours.

This page is the Classic 2048 game on InstantGameBox. Merges happen once per tile per move, so a line of four 2s becomes two 4s, not a single 8. After every successful slide a new 2 appears on a random empty cell - or, about one time in ten, a 4. When the grid is full and nothing can merge, the run ends. Your score is the sum of every merge. The site stores the personal best; the game never writes scores into localStorage.

Play it on a phone with a swipe or the on-screen pad, or at a desk with arrows and WASD. Undo is unlimited in this free-play mode if you want a move back. Hint runs a tiny local search on your device - empty space, smoothness, a monotonic row, a corner bias - and never calls an AI API. Reach 2048 and you can keep playing for 4096 and higher, or start a clean board.

A typical session is a handful of focused minutes. There is no download and no account wall. Open the page, tap Play, and the first two tiles are already waiting.

Today's shared 4x4 is the 2048 daily challenge at /2d/puzzle/2048-daily. The same merge idea also exists as a 3D cube at /3d/puzzle/2048.