Open-Source 2048: Play, Customize, and Learn from the Classic Puzzle Game
2 points · Open discussiongabrielecirulli
2048
JavaScript2014–2024
gabrielecirulli / 2048
2048
The source code for 2048
15Distinct people
15Mentions
1Explicit recommenders
13.5KGitHub stars
What to know before exploring
What it is
The source code for 2048
GitHub
Where it is used
No documented product use was verified in the last source check.
What people are saying
I like the structure of the game 2048 https://github.com/gabrielecirulli/2048 and I think it will be highly instructive for you since it implements the MVC pattern without…
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Also in these discussions
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This week on Hacker News
Nov 7–Nov 14 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/14/2026, 5:04:57 PM UTC.
No direct repository links were found in the indexed HN discussions over the past seven days. Older discussions are available below.
Mentions over time
HN mentions by year15 dated mentions
Observed mentions: 2014-03-10 16:30:15 UTC to 2024-09-29 20:56:57 UTC.
Counts come from the repository’s dated source evidence. Index cutoff: 2026-11-02 08:16:59 UTC.
View mention counts and date ranges
| Period | Start (UTC) | End (exclusive, UTC) | Mentions | Submissions | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 2014-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2015-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 9 | 1 | 8 |
| 2015 | 2015-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 2016 | 2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | 2017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | 2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2019 | 2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2023 | 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2024 | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 1 | 0 |
From the project README
An excerpt from the repository, fetched Nov 13, 2026.
Read the project’s introduction
2048
A small clone of 1024, based on Saming's 2048 (also a clone). 2048 was indirectly inspired by Threes.
Made just for fun. Play it here!
The official app can also be found on the Play Store and App Store!
Contributions
Anna Harren and sigod are maintainers for this repository.
Other notable contributors:
TimPetricola added best score storage
chrisprice added custom code for swipe handling on mobile
marcingajda made swipes work on Windows Phone
mgarciaisaia added support for Android 2.3
Many thanks to rayhaanj, Mechazawa, grant, remram44 and ghoullier for the many other good contributions.
Screenshot
That screenshot is fake, by the way. I never reached 2048 😄
Contributing
Changes and improvements are more than welcome! Feel free to fork and open a pull request. Please make your changes in a specific branch and request to pull into master! If you can, please make sure the game fully works before sending the PR, as that will help speed up the process.
You can find the same information in the contributing guide.
License
2048 is licensed under the MIT license.
Donations
I made this in my spare time, and it's hosted on GitHub (which means I don't have any hosting costs), but if you enjoyed the game and feel like buying me coffee, you can donate at my BTC address: 1Ec6onfsQmoP9kkL3zkpB6c5sA4PVcXU2i. Thank you very much!
Read the full README on GitHubWhat Hacker News says
15 sourcesI played it and hacked it to 4096 with a 5x5 layout so I could play longer. :)
EDIT: I think I took this project:
https://github.com/gabrielecirulli/2048
and modified it
In The beauty of finished softwareThis looks very nice, great job!!
I used to use HN-Special[1] (by the same dev who made that 2048 game[2]) but I stopped a while ago and I don't miss it. I like HN as is (for now), but I do have it at 150% zoom using the native browser built in zoom, which works great for my needs.
The one thing I really really want is the equivalent of the "[l+c]" button from Reddit Enhanced Suite. In one click you open both the comments and the submission (if it's just a text one) in new tabs.
1. https://gabrielecirulli.github.io/hn-special/
2. https://github.com/gabrielecirulli/2048
In Show HN: I made a modern web UI for Hacker NewsI would be really surprised if the miner is contributing any major portion of that size. I just did a very basic search and a random miner I found has binary sizes <1MB
https://github.com/xmrig/xmrig/releases
edit: apparently the actual game is based on https://github.com/gabrielecirulli/2048 which is HTML+JS, so probably the Snap was bundling in Chromium/Electron, which explains the size.
In Malware Found in the Ubuntu Snap StoreI like the structure of the game 2048 https://github.com/gabrielecirulli/2048 and I think it will be highly instructive for you since it implements the MVC pattern without using a framework, and you want to be framework agnostic. 2048 is simple enough that it's an accessible introduction to software design.
Daniel Janus wrote a great analysis of the source code and architecture; I highly recommend reading it: http://blog.danieljanus.pl/blog/2014/04/02/2048/
In Ask HN: Good JavaScript single page applications to learn fromYou mean this? https://github.com/gabrielecirulli/2048
In Three.js – JavaScript 3D libraryIt's exactly the same under the hood as Gabriele's original 2048 from https://github.com/gabrielecirulli/2048
In 2048 in 3DAs far as the clone itself uses CSS transforms (if it's Cordova/Phonegap based), it should be fine and usable on mobile. You can recognize the clones using Cordova/Phonegap/Webview if they use the exact same style as G.Cirulli's 2048. Now, to recognize the clones using CSS transforms, that's more complicated. Check for their last release date, it should be strictly after 2014-03-13 (as CSS transforms were added to 2048's repo that day https://github.com/gabrielecirulli/2048/commit/7c6fd1b2a4acb...), and from there, test the apps.
I rewrote the whole game's code as an exercice soon after it was released, and took special care in using CSS transforms and not creating/forgetting javascript objects constantly (I wish I knew if that last point made a difference in performance on mobile, but I wouln't know how to measure it). I also added a tut
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orial screen and an animation for a forbidden move.
That's why I can personally recommend my ad-free clone ('shameless plug' and all that), that you can find here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.erwan.game... or by searching "2+2=2048" in the play store/windows phone store.
The swiping mechanic works great with it, so please tell me if you find any issues with it.
About a month. Threes! came out on February 6 [1], while 2048's git repository started on March 5 [2] and the game was first published about a week after that.
[1] http://www.theverge.com/2014/2/6/5361708/threes-ipad-iphone-...
[2] https://github.com/gabrielecirulli/2048/commit/f4d95b66723cd...
In 2048: The Nihilistic Face Of Free To PlayI submitted a pull request
The original source is here: https://github.com/gabrielecirulli/2048/blob/master/js/game_...
(line 62)
In 2048 in the terminalThe new tiles are only 2 (90%) and 4 (10%). From the source https://github.com/gabrielecirulli/2048/blob/master/js/game_...
// Adds a tile in a random position
GameManager.prototype.addRandomTile = function () {
if (this.grid.cellsAvailable()) {
var value = Math.random() < 0.9 ? 2 : 4;
var tile = new Tile(this.grid.randomAvailableCell(), value);
this.grid.insertTile(tile);
}
};
In 2048 x 2 = 4096This is inaccurate, because you have a 10% chance of getting a 4 tile added instead of a 2. That part makes the game tricky, because otherwise you could optimize every solution like an algorithm without ever losing.
var value = Math.random() < 0.9 ? 2 : 4;
https://github.com/gabrielecirulli/2048/blob/master/js/game_...
In 2048Hey, author here! I'm pretty overwhelmed that this made it to the top of HN without me even thinking of posting it here :)
I made this game as a fun weekend project, inspired by another game called 1024 (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/1024!/id823499224) and a spinoff called 2048 (http://saming.fr/p/2048/). I did mine to add animations to the latter, which was a bit hard to play without them.
I discovered Threes only today, and I had no idea it looked so similar. I searched a bit and it appears as if 1024 is also inspired by Threes, so my game is probably the last of a long chain of clones :P
The code is also open-source. You can find it here: https://github.com/gabrielecirulli/2048
Feel free to ask me anything, and thanks to everyone for the attention! :)
By the way, my highscore is somewhere around 6000. Admittedly, I'm quite bad at pla
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ying my own game :P
EDIT: Make sure not to get addicted!
EDIT 2: The game now has swipe gestures and vim keys support (added by @rayhaanj)!
The source code's here, in case anyone is interested: https://github.com/gabrielecirulli/2048
In 2048