2048 is a sliding-tile puzzle on a 4x4 grid. You combine matching numbers, build doubles, and try to reach the 2048 tile.
Moves. Each turn you slide every tile in one direction -- up, down, left, or right. Tiles travel as far as they can. Equal neighbors that collide along the way merge into a single tile worth twice as much (two 4s become an 8). A tile can only participate in one merge per move.
Scoring. Each merge adds the value of the new tile to your score. Combining two 64s adds 128 points; combining two 1024s adds the win.
Spawning. After every move that actually changed the board, a new tile appears in a random empty square. It's a 2 nine times out of ten, a 4 the rest of the time.
Winning. You "win" the first time a 2048 tile appears. You don't have to stop. Most players push for 4096, 8192, or the theoretical maximum of 131072.
Losing. When the board is full and no two neighbors share a value, no move can change anything. Game over.
The tactic. Pick a corner. Keep your biggest tile there. Everything else organizes around that anchor. The game gets harder the longer you play -- doubling is exponential, the board is not.
Next: how 2048 happened -- the clone wars and the weekend project that ate March 2014.
