Number 2048

Swipe in any direction (or use arrow keys) to slide all tiles. Matching numbered tiles merge into one tile with double the value. After each move, a new tile (2 or 4) appears in a random empty cell. Reach the 2048 tile to win; continue playing for higher tiles afterward if desired.

2048 is one of the most-cloned mobile-arcade games of the past decade, which makes a good implementation more valuable than the cloners often realise. The casual cloners typically get the mechanics roughly right but mishandle the small details — tile-spawn distribution, animation timing, undo behaviour — that make the original satisfying to play. Number 2048 gets these right.

The tile-spawn distribution is the most-overlooked element. Cirullis original uses a 90/10 split between 2-tiles and 4-tiles, which produces the difficulty curve experienced players are familiar with. Many clones use 80/20 or even 70/30 splits that feel slightly off without the player being able to articulate why. Number 2048 uses the original 90/10 split and the gameplay feels exactly as remembered.

The undo feature is restrained — one undo per move, not unlimited — which preserves the gentle pressure of consequence without eliminating it entirely. The 5x5 and 6x6 grid variants are genuinely different games rather than just larger boards; the additional space changes the optimal strategy substantially because corner-anchoring (the standard 4x4 strategy) becomes less reliable. The daily seeded puzzle adds shared community competition without forcing leaderboard registration.

For a free browser implementation of a game whose source code is famously open-licensed, Number 2048 is exemplary — faithful where faithfulness serves the player, with thoughtful additional variants for players who have mastered the original. Strongly recommended.