2048 Cupcakes: the 2048 puzzle, with something to look at
2048 Cupcakes keeps every rule of the 2048 puzzle and changes only what the tiles look like. Instead of plain squares with numbers, each value has its own cupcake: a swirl of cream on the 2, pink icing with chocolate dots on the 4, and so on up to a cupcake with a lit candle on the 2048. The number is still printed in the corner of every picture, so you never have to remember which cake is which.
The board is four squares by four. Each move pushes every cupcake as far as it will go in the direction you choose, and when two cupcakes with the same number meet, they merge into one worth twice as much. A new 2 or 4 then drops into a random empty square. That is all there is to it, and it is still hard: the board fills up quickly if you move without a plan, and one careless move can bury a big cupcake behind a row of small ones.
The engine underneath is the open-source 2048 written by Gabriele Cirulli in 2014, so it behaves exactly like the original. Your score goes up by the value of every merge, your best score is kept in this browser, and so is the board itself: close the tab halfway through and the same game is waiting when you come back.
Controls & mechanics
| Action | Control | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Slide the board | Arrow keys, W A S D or H J K L | Every cupcake moves as far as it can in that direction |
| Slide on a phone | Swipe up, down, left or right | Swipe anywhere on the board |
| Merge | Two equal cupcakes meet | They become one cupcake worth double, and the sum is added to your score |
| Restart | R key or New Game | Clears the board and starts a fresh game |
| After 2048 | Keep going | Carry on past the candle cupcake and chase 4096 |
| Game over | Try again | Shown when the board is full and no two neighbours match |
How to get to the 2048 cupcake
- Pick a corner and keep it: Decide where your biggest cupcake lives, usually a bottom corner, and keep it there for the whole game.
- Use only three directions: With the big cupcake bottom-left, play mostly Down, Left and Right. Press Up only when nothing else moves.
- Keep the bottom row full: A full bottom row cannot slide sideways, so the corner cupcake cannot be pushed out of place.
- Build a staircase: Line the cupcakes along the bottom row in falling order — 512, 256, 128, 64 — so each merge rolls into the next.
- Merge small ones early: Twos and fours left scattered fill the board. Clear them while they are next to each other.
- Look before you slide: Check where the new 2 will be able to land. Moves that open a square next to your corner invite trouble.
Key features
- Eleven cupcakes: A different cupcake for every value from 2 to 2048, number printed on each.
- The real 2048 rules: Built on Gabriele Cirulli's open-source 2048 engine, so merges work exactly as in the original.
- Keyboard or touch: Arrow keys, WASD, Vim keys or a swipe on a phone or touch Chromebook.
- Saves your game: Best score and the current board are kept in this browser.
- Keep going: Reaching 2048 is a win, not the end: carry on for 4096 and beyond.
- Small and quick: Plain HTML, CSS and pictures; it opens fast even on a school laptop.
Game info
- Title: 2048 Cupcakes
- Developer: Gabriele Cirulli
- Category: 2048 & Number Puzzles
- Platform: Web browser (HTML5)
- Engine: Open-source 2048 by Gabriele Cirulli (2014) · cupcake tile edition served from 2048cupcakes.click
Pro tip: When the bottom row is full and in order, you can often play Left and Down in turn for a long time without thinking. Stop and look the moment that pattern stops merging.
