How to win 2048
The 2048 game can feel like a super challenging game. Many people even give up on reaching the 2048th tile, which is a shame because it's definitely possible. This step-by-step guide will give you all the tips and tricks you'll need to win the game. If you stick to them, your chances of beating the game should increase dramatically.
Pick a corner for high-value tiles
The most important tip for winning is to try and keep all your high-value tiles in the same corner. Early in the game, combine your tiles to the 8th and 16th tiles and always try to keep the highest ones in a corner. It doesn't matter which corner, as long as you're consistent with which corner you're utilizing.
If you stick by this guideline, you should have the highest-value tile in the innermost corner, and then other high-value tiles will be built up around it. This way, you'll have a good chance of merging your high-value tiles to even higher values. Using this technique means that most of your moves will only occur in one direction.
Reaching a value of 128 or higher is easy with this technique, and if you get stuck, you can always try to move your tiles in the direction you're not using.
Keep your active row filled up with tiles
If you use the trick mentioned above, try to keep your innermost tile in the same position since getting the tile with the highest value back into a corner can be challenging. In general, it's a good idea to keep your active row filled up with high-value tiles.
For example, keeping the bottom row filled means you can move right, left and down without moving your high-value tiles, which means that you can build new tiles on the main board and then move them down into your high-value row when they get big enough.
Merge small tiles first
It might feel more impactful to merge tiles with a high value than a low value, but most often, the low-value tiles get you into trouble. Having a focus on merging low-value tiles is, therefore, vital if you don't want to get stuck!
Trapped tiles will land you in trouble
Trapped tiles make it hard to merge tiles, and they're hard to get rid of, so avoid them at all costs. You might be forced to make a daring move if you're stuck, but if you can, try to make your move so a tile can't appear behind other tiles with much higher value.
If you do find yourself in a situation where you have a trapped tile, try to get it released as quickly as possible. You can do this by maneuvering the tile or simply by building the trapped tile up to a higher-value tile.
Remember your goal and think ahead
You can become so caught up in the heat of the moment that you completely forget your goal of reaching 2048. At the game's later stages, you might have a single 512th tile and a couple of 256th tiles. Then your focus should probably shift from building up tiles to merging the remaining tile to reach your goal unless your goal is to reach as high a value as possible and not just reach 2048, of course!
Thinking ahead is probably a piece of advice I don't even have to give you, but I feel compelled to anyways. I often find that when I'm in the later stages of the game, and I lose, it's because I didn't think that extra step ahead. At the beginning of the game, speed is often important until you reach a certain point, and then you'll have to start thinking more strategically.
Conclusion
If you're like most people, you won't win the first game of 2048 you'll play! You probably won't win the second either, but rest assured that if you use the tips and tricks above, you'll surely win at some point. Good luck!