Here is a list of online variants scouted from github. For the record, that means that there are very few apps on this list, and only those that you can compile yourself. The majority of these links are intended to be accessed from the Internet.

[updated regularly by scouring github and /r/2048; last updated 09-21-2014]

Green = Recommended for extended play

Blue = Recommended for quick humor

Gabrielle Cirulli’s original 2048: [LINK]

[And the Threes creator is rather annoyed at the entire phenomenon so I guess I should link to a JS version of his game at this link]

Spawn Changes

The most tame variants, these just alter the numbers spawned.

4’s only: [LINK] Knocks the difficulty level down a notch, or maybe two.

Larger than 2 and 4: [LINK] Makes the game go faster but more likely to get stuck.

1024-field: [LINK] For those who can’t complete the original 2048…

Deterministic 2048: [LINK] Remove the randomness of the spawning!

0: [LINK] An exercise in futility, only 0 spawns.

0: [LINK] Another exercise in futility.

0 Block: [LINK] 0 block spawns with other numbers.

Goal Changes and Bigger/Smaller Boards

2048 is a kinda small (or big) goal. Let’s change it.

2×1 Grid

4: [LINK] Just… wow

2×2 Grid

4: [LINK] A modestly fun challenge would be to get 16 (or even 32 if you’re lucky)

3×3 Grid

511: [LINK] (FLASH) You have to get the full board 256-128-…-1 to win. Includes some analysis / hint function.

256: [LINK] Too hard? Just get 256.

4×4 Grid

4096: [LINK]

8192: [LINK]

Power of two: [LINK] [8… 32768, pick your target]

204∞ / ∞ / 2-bitfinity: [LINK 1] | [LINK 2] | [LINK 3]

I guess they’re bounded by 2^17 = 131072 (and realistically a lot less than that)

5×5 Grid

65536: [LINK]

6×6 Grid

2-2-4: [LINK] WARNING: This departs from 2048 in that it spawns bigger things and two at a time.

4194304: [LINK] Or 2^22

8×8 Grid

16384: [LINK]

9007199254740992: [LINK] 2^53 for the record. 8×8 board. Now with a RNG that plays for you.

Small Functionality “Improvements”

Adds some small useful feature but otherwise doesn’t change anything

jerryjiahaha: [LINK] – Savestate (+loading), undo once without preset random seed (easy to “cheat”)

Codecoach: [LINK] – Adds a timer. Also you can share to Sina if you’re that type of person

Infinite Undo: [LINK] – Also uses a preset random seed so you can’t “cheat”

Config Sharing: [LINK] – You can start from any config by modifying the hashtag after the URL.

Dropbox 2048: [LINK] – Sync with dropbox your highscores and savegames. It’s also blue

Mistake Protection: [LINK] – I actually haven’t invoked the mistake protection but I’ll just take their word for it

Study 2048: [LINK] – Studying for finals but can’t resist the 2048 temptation? (and actually want to play unlike in Finals 2048) Answer questions periodically while you play!

2048 Analyze: [LINK] – Analyze the board and undo.

2048 with Timer: [LINK] – Analyze the board and undo.

Aesthetic Variants

Numbers in boxes are boring, let’s change that.

Disclaimer: some of these aesthetic variants are just numbers in boxes.

So I’m bad at pop culture and stuff so idk what most of this stuff is. But oh well.

NEW NOTE: I’ll probably stop tracking usvsth3m variants unless they’re notable, since it’s REALLY easy to make your own variant without that much effort now.

Numbers in boxes

Numberwang: [LINK] Heh, British humo(u)r.

1: [LINK] Merge 1/1024’s into 1

2048^0: [LINK 1] | [LINK 2] Numbers divide by 2 when merged. [Equivalent to “4096” actually]

177147: [LINK] Kinda weird, but X+X=3X. Play to 3^11.

11: [LINK] N+N=N+1.

Upside Down 2048: [LINK] In more ways than one

2048i: [LINK] Multiply by -2i instead

x^11: [LINK] Get an 11th power

10^11: [LINK] A specific version of the above.

Minimalist Versions (I define as “original 2048 with different colors, or just colors”)

prism: [LINK] Colors only – Bright colors

dulux autumn pallet edition:[LINK]

Saming’s 2048: [LINK] Includes a “MMO” version in link. I think it might play a bit differently.

Katon 2048: [LINK] Fiery! (Portuguese.)

Animated 2048: [LINK] Numbers are animated, from what I see pretty smooth HTML5 animations

Letters in boxes

Periodic Table: [LINK] A shame that this fails for 128+

Mg: [LINK] Also a periodic table variant, though this had sustainability in mind

0xff: [LINK] [Not a complete copy per se, spawns 0x0 and 0x1, where 0x0 -> 0x4b -> 0x69 and 0x1 -> 0x69 BUT 0x1 and 0x4b do not interact with each other – it makes the game a bit harder]

2048 Meta: [LINK] Evolve versions of the game into more complex versions.

LHC 2048: [LINK] Play with fundamental particles!

Offensive 2048: [LINK] Viewer discretion possibly suggested

Drupal 2048: [LINK]

Alphabet 2048: [LINK] Comes in a variety of languages!

Circle of Fifths: [LINK] Music theme; also it’s cyclical (although quite hard to actually attain; you “restart” every 8192 you can make)

Dek: [LINK] Multilingual 2048

People in boxes

Jpop? [LINK] [Not Kpop apparently so I’ll guess again]

2048 Tonantes: [LINK] I really don’t know anymore… (It’s Spanish.)

UChicago: [LINK]

Doctor Who: [LINK]

Turkish Gov’t: [LINK]

Dragonball Z: [LINK] (Spanish)

Simpsons: [LINK]

fb2048: [LINK] [Requires Facebook, as the name suggests.] Merge your friends together!

Everything else in boxes

doge2048: [LINK]

Get MIT (Good US Colleges): [LINK] [And for Caltech sympathizers, this is a much simpler version.]

Pokemon 2048: [LINK]

March Madness: [LINK]

Match Madness: [LINK] [A different bracket?]

Finnish Alcohol: [LINK]

2048 Meta [Pictures]: [LINK] Like 2048 Meta but with images

TfL Roundels Edition: [LINK]

UC System 1024: [LINK] [UCSB is the last one, FYI]

Lorem Pixel: [LINK] Combine random images, a new challenge every time

Paw 2048: [LINK] can haz cheezburger?

Corgi 2048: [LINK] Corgis!

SHOTS!: [LINK] 2048 becomes a drinking game

Audio Variants

Audio Drone 2048: [LINK] – Sounds that correspond to what you merged

Lulz 2048: [LINK] – Laughs

Synth 2048: [LINK] – Synthesized sounds

Difficult Variants

As if 2048 wasn’t hard enough…

2048 Hard: [LINK]

Evil 2048: [LINK]

Devil’s 2048: [LINK]

AI can deliberately try to place squares in the least convenient of locations. The first includes an autorunner and has more options, but the other two run a lot faster.

2048 Hardcore (Invis): [LINK]

I’m not sure I’m seeing the difficulty…

2048 Hell: [LINK]

It’s easier than the above, at least you get to see where the tiles are (although you don’t see what numbers they are). And the larger ones do glow.

Speed 2048: [LINK]

Quick, tiles spawn every second or so! You also lose if you run out of space and the autospawn can’t spawn a new block.

Jubeat 2048: [LINK]

A cross between Deterministic 2048 and Speed 2048. (If you’re feeling particularly masochistic, try 1x speed.) Jubeat is a rhythm game by Bemani; it’s kinda like DDR except with squares.

2048 Double: [LINK]

Play 2048 on two boards at once. Lose on any board, lose on both boards. But you only need one 2048, thankfully.

Random 4096 Drops: [LINK]

Pretty sure this makes the game impossible to actually complete. But you’ll get really high scores anyway.

Troll 2048: [LINK]

If you like not moving in the right direction that is. Pretty mindless

Isotopic 2048: [LINK]

The 8, 32, 128, etc. tiles are unstable and decay after some time. You also get a 3×3 grid. Get 256.

Fe[26]: [LINK]

A more accurate version of the above. There’s a tricky step but afterwards it’s not too bad.

2048 Hell (Flash): [LINK]

2048 with physics and a more continuous “flow”.

Merger Variants

Changes the basic 2+2=4 equation to something weird

2048 Zen: [LINK] [Merge anything, merge all. Impossible to lose, really]

2048 (Unrefined merge all): [LINK] [Merge anything, but going over doesn’t register win]

2584: [LINK] [Consecutive Fibonacci merges only.]

1597: [LINK] [Same as above but one less.]

987: [LINK] [Same as above but one less, again.]

Or just Fibonacci forever.

2187: [LINK] [3+3+3=9 gameplay. The code is sort of broken though.]

243: [LINK] [5×5 board, 1+1+1=3. A lot more solvable now.]

144: [LINK] [Combine multiple in a row to make 144. 5×5 board. Yes, you can make 1+1+1+1+1=5 and you’ll be sad.]

Finals 2048: [LINK] [Get back to studying! X+X=2048 – Challenge: try to lose. It’s possible]

204÷: [LINK] [The division sign divides a cell in half. Hilarity ensues with the 1/2, 1/4, … tiles]

-512: [LINK] [6×6 board, two different noninteracting worlds…]

0: [LINK] [But now they interact! 4×4 board, negatives and positives cancel out. Get zero.]

±64: [LINK] [Unless your goal is to get a big number (the absolute value of it, that is). Get either 64 or -64.]

2048 Advanced: [LINK] [Spawns x2 and x4 tiles periodically. Goal = 32768]

2(048): [LINK] [2X = X+X]

20 Euros: [LINK] [Ok, this is now quite great. Merge coins the way you normally merge them: 1+1=2, 1+2+2=5, etc.]

Quantum 2048: [LINK] [Wow. It collapses only if there’s no other options.]

Divide it!: [LINK] [Take the GCD unless it’s 1]

DIV and DIVE: [DIV] | [DIVE] [You can merge two numbers if one is a divisor of another. The first is the precursor but the second attributes itself to the former and extends it decently, with a better formatting system.]

2048 +-*/: [LINK] [Don’t divide by 0!]

2047: [LINK] [If the ratio of two things is less than 2, then you can merge them. A random goal at the end.]



3ps [trips]: [LINK] [5×5 board; Threes merging mechanics (1+2=3; x+x=2x for x>=3); Goal 3072]

Strange Board and Dimensional Variants

More movement controls, or different boards, etc.

2048 1-D [LINK]

1×21 grid. I’m not sure it’s even possible to lose, really. Never spawns 4.

2048 3-D [LINK 1] | [LINK 2] | [LINK 3] | [LINK 4] | [LINK 5]

3x3x3 grid. Significantly easier than the normal but still “losable”. Second link actually visualizes the 3-D, and third link does the same while “preserving” the 2048 style. The fourth one is a version made in Unity.

The fifth one is made with WebGL, and interestingly is more restrictive (you cannot move in the same direction or do a complete flip; you use arrows to rotate the cube.)

2048 4-D [LINK 1] | [LINK 2]

Both are 2x2x2x2 grids. The former link is more visually distinct with the subgrids than the latter.

[also this, but wow this interface sucks]

2048 5-D [LINK]

Oh boy. [2x2x2x2x2] Quite easier than the 4-D version.

16384 Hexagon [LINK]

Regular hexagon of sidelength 3. 16384 seems rather difficult to actually attain in this mode, and it even spawns 1’s along with 2’s and 4’s.

2048 Hexagon [LINK] Same as above but with a center peg (and an easier goal)

2048 Hexagon 2 [LINK] But now you only have 4 moves (depending on your previous left/right move, up/down play two different moves.)

2048 Cross 1 [LINK]

2048 Cross 2 [LINK]

2048 Diagonal [LINK] Yeah… don’t bother trying to get 2048, it’s just not possible.

The above variants are two 4×4 squares that intersect each other by 1 and 4 squares respectively. Once a tile is in this intersection region it can’t move out ever again.

2048 Triangular [LINK]

2210212 [LINK] From the Berkeley Mystery Hunt. There is an associated one-word answer to this puzzle! Try to find it. Winning the game should be easier than normal 2048.

Obstacle 2048 [LINK] Obstacles are placed on the board.

Multiplayer

Play with someone else either online or on the computer.

Regular 2048 Multiplayer: [LINK 1] | [LINK 2] | [LINK 3]

Depending on your opponent this game could be exciting and competitive. But playing it safe seems to be your best bet.

Second link is a little different. You play on the same board and you try to get the most points. It allows you to play with a specified player but gets less random player traffic.

Third link allows you to play with someone else on your computer… or by yourself if you’re forever alone.

HN Plays 2048: [LINK]

Akin to the (in?)famous Twitch Plays Pokemon, it’s obviously a good idea to crowdsource the 2048 playing!

Twilio Plays 2048: [LINK]

Another crowdsource variant where you text movement commands to a phone number.

Cal vs Stanford Hackathon Anarchy: [LINK]

Twitch plays 2048: [LINK]

And if you like the classic Twitch.tv experience of TPP here you go. The above is a lot more native though.

8402: [LINK]

The tables have turned and you are now the evil RNG that places the tiles.

Need more urgency? 2048 : [LINK] Start placing 16’s and 32’s.

Human 2048: [LINK]

Or maybe you want to play with someone else.

Gamemode Variants

Significant departure / paradigm shift from original gameplay

Infinity: [LINK]

Enough upgrades and random stuff for me to call this a new game.

Digolux: [LINK]

In order to acquire points you have to deposit a dedicated score block, which changes strategy a bit. If you combo enough you can also get multiplier exits, and etc.

Words Oh So Great: [LINK]

Letters instead of numbers, and they disappear afterwards. I really think that this should be a different game entirely but it keeps the block aesthetic of 2048.

Flappy 2048 (on 4×4 grid): [LINK] (1, 2, 3, 4, …)

Flappy Doge2048: [LINK] (much doge)

Logarithmic Flappy 2048: [LINK] (1, 2, 4, 8, …)

Numberwang Flappy 2048: [LINK]

Flappy Bird mechanics with a 2048 “theme”. No real 2048 gameplay similarities.

Flappy Thirds: [LINK]

Slightly 2048-mechanic in that you have to identify the right thing to merge.

Flappy 2048: [LINK]

This is probably the best Flappy Bird rendition of 2048 to date. Pretty challenging and smooth graphics.

Flappy 2048 Side-by-Side: [LINK]

Now THIS is Flappy Bird x 2048. Kinda bad implementation though.

Racing 2048: [LINK] Flappy Bird with easier controls

2048 Tetris: [LINK]

These mechanics seem quite interesting actually

to11: [LINK]

The no-spawn puzzler version is here!

Anti-2048: [LINK]

Lose to win. (Try to lock yourself up)

Negative 2048: [LINK]

Good luck not making 2048 (a lot harder than the previous)

Couch 2048: [LINK]

Funny game with physics to play through once IMO.

Automated Scripts

The computer is smarter and better than you are at playing the game

Rating system: [X|Y] where X = Performance, Y = Speed (out of 10). Kinda subjective.

[7|2] 2048 AI: [LINK] – Can be played by a human (and with a “hint” mode too)

[5|6] 2048 Benchmark: [LINK]

[8|8] 2048 (SleepyCoder): [LINK]

[4|6] 2048 (Abstractionnl): [LINK]

[8|5.2] 2048 (maartenbaert): [LINK]

[5|5] 2048 (randomguy64): [LINK]

[2|10] Four Basic Algorithms: [LINK] – This is more of an instructional example than a real AI. Random and near-random, simple behavior can do quite well at this game. This blogpost provides a more detailed explanation.

AI’s written for API (load into below link)

[?|?] 2048 with AI API: [LINK] – Build your own AI! (The packaged one isn’t that good but that’s not the point)

[6] Monotonic AI [AI]

[5] bbarry: [AI]

[4] Murgo’s original: [AI]

[3] villesalonen: [AI]

Overall Packages

These give you the whole shebang.

2^31: [LINK]

Lots of modes + basic algorithms. Includes e.g. Fibonacci, Threes!, “Merge All”, and Timed modes.

Play 2048: [LINK]

Set your goal to 128, 256, …, 8192, or play Flappy 2048 all in one place!

Some Assembly Required

A smartphone or a compiler. (i.e. not this if you’re looking to play now)

Special Equipment:

Augmented Reality: [LINK]

Webcam “Air2048”: [LINK]

MS Excel: [LINK] (dropbox link, themed/camouflaged as a budget spreadsheet)

Compilation:

Atari: [LINK]

Bash: [LINK]

C: [LINK] | No assembly required! Get an executable here!

Another C: [LINK]

Gameboy: [LINK]

Hardware: [LINK] [Still a prototype.]

iOS: [LINK] | source included

Java: [LINK] | There’s an AI here: [LINK] (I’ll rate it as a 7|7)

sed: [LINK]

Terminal: [LINK]

TI-84: [LINK]

Vim: [LINK]

Customizers

Build your own 2048 variant

[LINK] – Text only

[LINK] – Images only

[LINK] – Either

Other / Huh?

They claim to do better but I don’t see it; check back later I guess

[LINK] – Spawns 64+, really weird movement (super easy to win)

Aggregators

Today we are meta.

phenomist’s WordPress – This one!

get2048.com

allthe2048.com

2048 Reddit

2048.directory

crazygames.com – play directly on their site

vinaybajaj2610.github.io

2048game

2048planet

Aarex’s List

2048box