2048
Year: 2014
Rating: E
Time Played: ~6 hours
There are some games that are so innately simple that they feel as if they’ve always been around. While I usually associate this with that set of Windows 95 games like Solitaire, Minesweeper, and Space Cadet Pinball, I think some mobile games also have this feeling because of the simplicity of their touchscreen aspect. Sure, other mobile games like Angry Birds or Candy Crush feel iconic for mobile games, but have grown too complex over the years. One game that stands out in both its timelessness and simplicity is the tile-combining game, 2048.
In 2048, the goal is to combine random tiles of 2 and 4 together to reach the titular 2048 tile. Aside from the fact that this is a great game to learn the different exponential powers of 2, the limitation of the 4×4 grid makes it a challenge to reach the 2048 tile, let alone get much further than that. This is the reason the goal is a perfectly reasonable feat, but not always obtainable. That you merely have to swipe up, down, left, or right to play the game makes it much easier to pick up and start a round whenever you want.
The real qualm I have with this game is more along the lines of strategy. Since the tiles you’re given are randomly either a 2 or a 4, set somewhere randomly on the open spots of the grid, a successful run usually comes down to the luck of the draw. Sure, you can try to stick to a few different strategies, but there will always be edge cases that pop up that can ruin a run. That randomness plays so heavily into this is partly what makes it addicting to keep playing, hoping the randomness gods bless the next run.
A simple game that faces frustrating randomness, I give 2048 3.0 stars out of 5.
