KEEP IN MIND
- Pick a corner for the largest tile.
- Look at the whole board before moving.
- Keep a lane available for the next merge.
- Avoid R or New Game unless you want to restart.
Know what one move does
All tiles move in the chosen direction until they meet an edge or another tile. Equal neighbors can combine, and each newly merged tile merges only once during that move. A row reading 2, 2, 2, 2 therefore becomes 4, 4 when moved left. It does not collapse directly into an 8.
Keep the largest tile anchored
Choose a corner and try to keep your largest tile there. Build smaller values toward it along an edge. This is editorial strategy: it reduces the number of directions you need to consider and makes the next useful merge easier to spot. Breaking the pattern can still be necessary.
Count useful spaces, not just pairs
An immediate merge may leave small tiles trapped behind a larger one. Before moving, check the row or column that must supply your next merge. Empty cells provide space for rearranging the board, and a move that frees a lane can be more useful than one that increases the score immediately.
Understand new tiles and blocked moves
The original source chooses a 2 with 90% probability and a 4 otherwise, then inserts it into an available cell after a move that changes the board. A direction that moves or merges nothing does not create another tile. Random new values are one reason a fixed sequence of directions cannot promise a win.
A full board is not always finished
The game checks for either an empty cell or a neighboring equal pair. A board with no gaps can still have a legal merge. When you reach 2048, the original offers Keep playing. Restarting clears the current board, and the original has no undo button.
Protect a good position
The original keeps its board and best score in localStorage when available. It has an in-memory fallback if storage cannot be used. Stay on the same host and browser profile if you want the saved board to return; a saved link in this guide is only a bookmark.
