How to Win 2048 Cupcakes: The Corner Method, Step by Step

Most games of 2048 Cupcakes end the same way: the board fills with small cupcakes, the big one is stuck in the middle, and there is no move that does not make things worse. The fix is not faster thinking. It is a plan you can follow on every move. The corner method is the plan most good players use, and it works just as well with cupcakes as with numbers.

Step 1: choose a corner

Pick one corner for your biggest cupcake. Bottom-left is a good default, because Down and Left are easy to reach whether you use the arrow keys or W A S D. From now on, every decision is about keeping the biggest cupcake in that square.

Step 2: give up one direction

With the corner at the bottom-left, the dangerous move is Up. If the bottom row has a gap and you press Up, the big cupcake can be pulled out of its corner and a new 2 can drop in behind it. So play Down, Left and Right, and treat Up as an emergency move for when nothing else works.

Right is safe only while the bottom row is full. A full row cannot slide sideways, so the corner cupcake stays put. If the bottom row has a gap, a Right move can shift the corner cupcake one square across, and then you have to work to bring it back.

Step 3: keep the bottom row full

Fill the bottom row as early as you can and keep it filled. This is what makes the whole method safe. Whenever a gap opens in the bottom row, the next move should be the one that fills it, usually Down.

Step 4: build a staircase

The aim is to line the bottom row up in falling order from the corner: say 256, 128, 64, 32. When a 32 is made next to the end of that row, it merges into a 64, which sits next to the 64, which merges into a 128, and so on into the corner. One merge can set off a whole chain. When the bottom row is full of big cupcakes, carry the staircase up into the second row, running the other way, like a snake.

Step 5: handle the small ones

New tiles are always 2s or 4s, and they land in random empty squares. Small cupcakes in the top two rows are not a problem as long as you merge them while they are side by side. The trouble starts when a 2 gets trapped between two big cupcakes. Before each move, glance at where the empty squares will be afterwards, and avoid moves that leave one empty square right beside your corner.

A sample opening

The first twenty or so moves are the easiest place to set the method up. Start by pressing Down and Left in turn. Small cupcakes collect along the bottom and on the left, and the first 8s and 16s form in or near the bottom-left square. If neither Down nor Left moves anything, press Right, then go straight back to Down and Left. Within a minute you should have a full bottom row with the biggest cupcake in the corner. From there, the rest of the game is the same pattern with more care.

When it goes wrong

• The big cupcake left the corner. Do not panic-press. Build a small cupcake up in the corner square, or slide the big one back as soon as the row allows it.
• You had to press Up. Press Down straight after if it will put the bottom row back in order.
• Two big cupcakes are apart. Work on bringing the smaller one along the row towards the bigger one; never move the bigger one to meet it.

How long it takes

Each 2048 cupcake is made from 1,024 twos' worth of merges, so a winning game is long: around a thousand moves, a bit fewer because some new tiles are 4s. You do not have to finish in one go. The game keeps your board in this browser, so you can close the tab and carry on later.