Field guide · Oct 26, 2026

The 2048 family tree

Sliding-tile puzzles are a rare case where the clones are as interesting as the original. Here is what each branch actually changes — including the one I built, described the same way.

Threes — the one that started it

Asher Vollmer and Greg Wohlwend released Threes in early 2014: a 4×4 board, small numbered tiles that slide and merge in pairs, and a much tighter number ladder than the games that followed. It is paid, it is charming, and the tiles only merge when they are complementary rather than equal — which makes the board feel less forgiving and more deliberate.

2048 by Gabriele Cirulli — the one everybody played

A weekend project, released free and open source in March 2014, where equal tiles merge and every power of two is a milestone on the way to 2048. Its simplicity is the whole point: two rules, no timer, no meta. If you have never played any of these, start here — it is still the cleanest expression of the idea.

Daily-seeded puzzle games — the Wordle turn

After Wordle, a lot of puzzle games grew a second mode: one board per day, seeded so every player gets the same sequence, one attempt, and a result you can paste somewhere. It changes the social texture of a game completely. Instead of a personal best, you get a shared reference point — and a reason to come back tomorrow rather than grinding for an hour tonight.

Ember 2048 — the version with a prism

This is mine, so treat the framing as biased. It keeps the 2048 rule set untouched and adds a single tile: a prism, which carries no number. Slide it into a tile and that tile doubles, and the prism is gone. It is a merge without a partner, which turns a game of constant reaction into one where you can hold a power move and spend it on your largest tile later.

The second half is a daily ritual: one seeded board per UTC day, identical for everyone, one attempt, streaks and a leaderboard, with every day archived. Solo boards give you three undos; the ritual gives you none. Free, in the browser, no install, no ads.

How to choose

Want the tightest design and do not mind paying? Play Threes. Want the purest free version of the formula? Play Cirulli 2048. Want a five-minute daily habit with someone to compare against? A daily-seeded board, ours or anyone else. Want a slightly stranger strategy space where a single free doubling can change a whole run? That is the prism.

Descriptions of other games are summary-level; go play them rather than trusting a page that competes with them.