<s>
2048	B-Application
is	O
a	O
single-player	O
sliding	O
tile	O
puzzle	O
video	O
game	O
written	O
by	O
Italian	O
web	O
developer	O
Gabriele	B-Application
Cirulli	I-Application
and	O
published	O
on	O
GitHub	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
objective	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
is	O
to	O
slide	O
numbered	O
tiles	O
on	O
a	O
grid	O
to	O
combine	O
them	O
to	O
create	O
a	O
tile	O
with	O
the	O
number	O
2048	B-Application
;	O
however	O
,	O
one	O
can	O
continue	O
to	O
play	O
the	O
game	O
after	O
reaching	O
the	O
goal	O
,	O
creating	O
tiles	O
with	O
larger	O
numbers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
originally	O
written	O
in	O
JavaScript	B-Language
and	O
CSS	B-Language
over	O
a	O
weekend	O
,	O
and	O
released	O
on	O
9	O
March	O
2014	O
as	O
free	B-License
and	I-License
open-source	I-License
software	I-License
subject	O
to	O
the	B-License
MIT	I-License
License	I-License
.	O
</s>
<s>
Versions	O
for	O
iOS	B-Application
and	O
Android	B-Application
followed	O
in	O
May	O
2014	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
2048	B-Application
was	O
intended	O
to	O
be	O
an	O
improved	O
version	O
of	O
two	O
other	O
games	O
,	O
both	O
of	O
which	O
were	O
clones	O
of	O
the	O
iOS	B-Application
game	O
Threes	B-Application
released	O
a	O
month	O
earlier	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cirulli	O
himself	O
described	O
2048	B-Application
as	O
being	O
"	O
conceptually	O
similar	O
"	O
to	O
Threes	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
release	O
of	O
2048	B-Application
resulted	O
in	O
the	O
rapid	O
appearance	O
of	O
many	O
similar	O
games	O
,	O
akin	O
to	O
the	O
flood	O
of	O
Flappy	B-Application
Bird	I-Application
variations	O
from	O
2013	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
2048	B-Application
is	O
played	O
on	O
a	O
plain	O
4×4	O
grid	O
,	O
with	O
numbered	O
tiles	O
that	O
slide	O
when	O
a	O
player	O
moves	O
them	O
using	O
the	O
four	O
arrow	O
keys	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
is	O
won	O
when	O
a	O
tile	O
with	O
a	O
value	O
of	O
2048	B-Application
appears	O
on	O
the	O
board	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Strategies	O
in	O
2048	B-Application
include	O
keeping	O
the	O
highest	O
tiles	O
in	O
a	O
specific	O
corner	O
and	O
to	O
keep	O
that	O
tile	O
in	O
that	O
corner	O
and	O
to	O
fill	O
the	O
specified	O
row	O
with	O
the	O
highest	O
numbers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nineteen-year-old	O
Gabriele	B-Application
Cirulli	I-Application
created	O
the	O
game	O
in	O
a	O
single	O
weekend	O
as	O
a	O
test	O
to	O
see	O
if	O
he	O
could	O
program	O
a	O
game	O
from	O
scratch	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
described	O
it	O
as	O
being	O
"	O
conceptually	O
similar	O
"	O
to	O
the	O
recently	O
released	O
iOS	B-Application
game	O
Threes	B-Application
,	O
and	O
a	O
clone	O
of	O
another	O
game	O
,	O
1024	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Developed	O
by	O
Veewo	O
Studio	O
,	O
1024	O
is	O
itself	O
a	O
clone	O
of	O
Threes	B-Application
,	O
with	O
its	O
App	O
Store	O
description	O
once	O
reading	O
"	O
no	O
need	O
to	O
pay	O
for	O
Threes	B-Application
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cirulli	O
's	O
README	O
for	O
2048	B-Application
cites	O
another	O
1024	O
clone	O
as	O
influence	O
:	O
the	O
homonymous	O
but	O
slightly	O
different	O
in	O
terms	O
of	O
mechanics	O
2048	B-Application
by	O
Saming	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
released	O
ports	O
for	O
iOS	B-Application
and	O
Android	B-Application
in	O
May	O
2014	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
second-place	O
winner	O
of	O
a	O
coding	O
contest	O
at	O
Matlab	O
Central	O
Exchange	O
was	O
an	O
AI	B-Application
system	I-Application
that	O
would	O
play	O
2048	B-Application
on	O
its	O
own	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Spinoffs	O
have	O
been	O
released	O
online	O
and	O
include	O
versions	O
with	O
elements	O
from	O
the	O
Doge	O
meme	O
,	O
Doctor	O
Who	O
,	O
Flappy	B-Application
Bird	I-Application
and	O
Tetris	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2014	O
,	O
an	O
unofficial	O
clone	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
was	O
published	O
in	O
the	O
iOS	B-Application
app	O
store	O
by	O
Ketchapp	O
,	O
monetized	O
with	O
advertising	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
has	O
also	O
been	O
a	O
Doctor	O
Who	O
spinoff	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
one	O
for	O
the	O
Nintendo	B-Operating_System
3DS	I-Operating_System
,	O
which	O
included	O
a	O
retail	O
release	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
has	O
been	O
described	O
by	O
The	O
Wall	O
Street	O
Journal	O
as	O
"	O
almost	O
like	O
Candy	B-Application
Crush	I-Application
for	O
math	O
geeks	O
"	O
,	O
and	O
Business	O
Insider	O
called	O
it	O
"	O
Threes	B-Application
on	O
steroids	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
phenomenon	O
of	O
2048	B-Application
has	O
been	O
compared	O
to	O
that	O
of	O
Flappy	B-Application
Bird	I-Application
by	O
several	O
commentators	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
James	O
Vincent	O
of	O
The	O
Independent	O
labeled	O
2048	B-Application
as	O
"	O
a	O
clone	O
of	O
a	O
clone	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
April	O
2014	O
,	O
Pocket	O
Gamer	O
reported	O
that	O
15	O
new	O
clones	O
of	O
Threes	B-Application
were	O
released	O
daily	O
in	O
the	O
App	O
Store	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
asked	O
if	O
he	O
was	O
concerned	O
that	O
his	O
situation	O
would	O
end	O
up	O
as	O
stressed	O
as	O
that	O
of	O
Nguyễn	O
Hà	O
Đông	O
,	O
the	O
creator	O
of	O
Flappy	B-Application
Bird	I-Application
,	O
Cirulli	O
said	O
that	O
he	O
had	O
"	O
already	O
gone	O
through	O
that	O
phase	O
"	O
on	O
a	O
smaller	O
scale	O
,	O
and	O
that	O
once	O
he	O
had	O
decided	O
against	O
monetizing	O
2048	B-Application
,	O
he	O
"	O
stopped	O
feeling	O
awkward.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
response	O
to	O
rampant	O
cloning	O
,	O
the	O
creators	O
of	O
Threes	B-Application
published	O
a	O
log	O
of	O
how	O
the	O
game	O
evolved	O
over	O
its	O
14-month	O
development	O
cycle	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
said	O
they	O
had	O
tried	O
and	O
dismissed	O
2048	B-Application
tile	O
merging	O
variant	O
,	O
because	O
it	O
made	O
the	O
game	O
too	O
easy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
a	O
2014	O
Wired	O
article	O
,	O
they	O
claimed	O
to	O
have	O
each	O
beaten	O
2048	B-Application
on	O
their	O
first	O
play	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
mathematical	O
nature	O
of	O
2048	B-Application
has	O
made	O
the	O
game	O
of	O
interest	O
to	O
AI	B-Application
researchers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
2022	O
,	O
AI	B-Application
achieved	O
over	O
95%	O
(	O
likely	O
over	O
98%	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
measurement	O
has	O
noise	O
)	O
probability	O
of	O
making	O
a	O
16384	O
tile	O
,	O
over	O
75%	O
(	O
likely	O
over	O
80%	O
)	O
probability	O
of	O
making	O
a	O
32768	O
,	O
and	O
over	O
3%	O
probability	O
of	O
making	O
a	O
65536	O
(	O
improving	O
over	O
the	O
results	O
in	O
and	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
2048	B-Application
AI	B-Application
strategy	O
uses	O
expectimax	B-Algorithm
search	O
up	O
to	O
a	O
certain	O
(	O
variable	O
)	O
depth	O
,	O
plus	O
transposition	B-General_Concept
tables	I-General_Concept
to	O
avoid	O
duplication	O
.	O
</s>
