Posted by terabytest 3 days ago
Even after all these years, that experience still feels a bit surreal to me. I’m deeply grateful to everyone who connected with the game, whether in small or significant ways, and for the stories shared along the way. Some people expressed how they were going through tough times and found some comfort, however small, in playing 2048.
At the start of last year, I wanted to breathe new life into the game as it was starting to show its age. I quit my job last October to work on 2048 full time and spent a year building this new version (the original took just 5 days!). I wanted to pay tribute to what made 2048 great while modernizing and polishing the experience.
The idea of adding powerups came when Prime Gaming and I connected to see if we could create a special version of 2048 for their members, with some exclusive extras. Some of those powerups made it into the main game, though there’s still a Classic[3] mode just like the original for those who prefer a more hardcore experience. The old site is also still online[4].
2048 is now my full-time focus, and I’m excited about the ways it can keep improving. I wanted to share this update with the community where it all began, both for a bit of nostalgia and to hear your thoughts and feedback!
Thank you all so much!
— Gabriele
[1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7373566
[2]: https://medium.com/@gabrielecirulli/2048-success-and-me-7dc6...
There's value in that. There's massive value in 2048 that Threes! does not capture. Just because someone spends a lot of time designing something, it does not entitle them to attention or praise. Many great artists get famous for works they absolutely hate. Gabriele has been consistently courteous about all of this for 10 years, and I'd suggest people here could be a bit more courteous to him too.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41406645
All: please don't repeat the usual Wolfram trope. (If you don't know what I mean by that, a decade's worth of explanation can be found via https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que....) The issue is not that it's wrong, it's that it's extremely repetitive and we want fresh discussion on HN, preferably about the specific content of an article.
I didn't realize Stephen Wolfram was dang's personal We Do Not Mention the Orangutan. I suppose that given the inevitable prevalence of clichéd back-and-forth tropes and exchanges on HN, there's little choice but to draw a line in the sand on specific versions and hope it serves as a stand-in for all of them.
They can't be stopped but one can maybe dampen them a bit sometimes. Or not.
https://www.reddit.com/r/EdgarAllanPoe/comments/17cehq8/we_d...
(no matter whether it's true or not)
To answer your sort-of question:
> Ok? But lots of people do want that “middle ground” game…
Those lots of people can play threes, or other games that exist in such a middle ground.
Not every game needs to support every play style, nor does every person need to like every game.
Or to be facetious and answer you in your own style:
> Ok? But lots of people do want that “middle ground” game…
OK? But lots of people don't want the “middle ground” game, especially people who like more complex games on desktop/console and only simpler time-fillers on mobile.
Or even more so:
> Ok? But lots of people do want that “middle ground” game…
Yes… and?
2048 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7373566 - March 2014 (410 comments)
2048 AI - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7379821 - March 2014 (189 comments)
2048 – multiplayer - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7384974 - March 2014 (113 comments)
2048 x 2 = 4096 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7396134 - March 2014 (24 comments)
2048 in the terminal - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7398011 - March 2014 (88 comments)
2048 with Leaderboard and achievements, with Kivy (Python/OpenGL) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7404515 - March 2014 (25 comments)
Show HN: 2048 in 2048 bytes - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7406605 - March 2014 (54 comments)
2048 in 3D - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7416777 - March 2014 (66 comments)
2048 in 4D - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7418219 - March 2014 (113 comments)
Flappy 2048 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7431047 - March 2014 (121 comments)
Show HN: Logarithmic Flappy 2048 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7432448 - March 2014 (64 comments)
HN Plays 2048 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7433524 - March 2014 (81 comments)
Show HN: 2048 Tetris - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7435569 - March 2014 (60 comments)
2048 for physicists - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7438567 - March 2014 (33 comments)
2048 Numberwang - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7439444 - March 2014 (110 comments)
Show HN: 2048 without numbers - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7443166 - March 2014 (46 comments)
Dropbox 2048 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7443379 - March 2014 (2 comments)
8402: 2048 from the other side - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7446139 - March 2014 (53 comments)
2(048) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7453543 - March 2014 (46 comments)
2048 in sed - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7464294 - March 2014 (35 comments)
2048 game to the Atari 2600 VCS - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7466097 - March 2014 (22 comments)
2048 Solver - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7473486 - March 2014 (38 comments)
Threes: The Rip-offs and Making Our Original Game - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7484106 - March 2014 (208 comments)
2048 As A Service - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7510670 - April 2014 (52 comments)
2048 implemented in 487 bytes of C - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7535666 - April 2014 (45 comments)
2048 in 3D - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7543483 - April 2014 (51 comments)
Flappy 2048 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7637009 - April 2014 (32 comments)
2048 in Famo.us - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7660206 - April 2014 (21 comments)
2048, success and me - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7704800 - May 2014 (222 comments)
Show HN: 2048 in Swift - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7845441 - June 2014 (34 comments)
Implementing 2048 in 90 lines of Haskell - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7896187 - June 2014 (24 comments)
243 Game – inspired by 2048 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7991773 - July 2014 (36 comments)
Design Is Why 2048 Sucks, and Threes Is a Masterpiece - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8030413 - July 2014 (80 comments)
The Mathematics of 2048: Counting States with Combinatorics - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15327837 - Sept 2017 (46 comments)
The Mathematics of 2048: Counting States by Exhaustive Enumeration - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15894126 - Dec 2017 (22 comments)
The Mathematics of 2048: Optimal Play with Markov Decision Processes - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16790338 - April 2018 (43 comments)
Show HN: 2048.cpp – Play 2048 in directly your terminal - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17897283 - Sept 2018 (45 comments)
The Mathematics of 2048: Optimal Play with Markov Decision Processes (2018) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28310842 - Aug 2021 (50 comments)
Show HN: 1024, a 2048 Puzzle Game - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32405510 - Aug 2022 (48 comments)
Show HN: Exponentile – A match 3 game mixed with 2048 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39897112 - April 2024 (40 comments)
Show HN: King Thirteen: 2048 with chess pieces, in under 13 KB - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41623814 - Sept 2024 (80 comments)
But also made me think: what other "fads" have we seen?
Some that come to mind is a wave of "{x}, a {y} written in rust", or more recently the wave of things being thin wrappers/prompts on top of some llm/transformer. Was also a time it felt like it daily was a new js library on the front page. It would be cool with a history of hn of sorts, about what's been in vogue at times.
Makes me think we could maybe ease up on that when it comes to ongoing work.
Ask HN: Why is the 2048 post so popular? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7378022 - March 2014 (15 comments)
2048 was too easy : welcome 4096 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7386557 - March 2014 (9 comments)
Simple trick to beat 2048: left up, left down, repeat - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7388699 - March 2014 (3 comments)
2048 with undo - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7389112 - March 2014 (5 comments)
2048 in Augmented Reality - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7391322 - March 2014 (2 comments)
JS1k demo details: 2048 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7407055 - March 2014 (14 comments)
Show HN: 2048 with shareable replays - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7408918 - March 2014 (4 comments)
2048 Benchmark - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7408952 - March 2014 (4 comments)
How to win 2048 everytime - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7410582 - March 2014 (6 comments)
Invisible 2048 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7418310 - March 2014 (4 comments)
Why Do I Find 2048 So Damn Addictive? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7418806 - March 2014 (2 comments)
Words oh so great: 2048 meets Scrabble - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7419264 - March 2014 (5 comments)
Xkcd comic about 2048 game - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7427895 - March 2014 (3 comments)
Flappy 2048 in HTML5 Canvas - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7428175 - March 2014 (17 comments)
Flappy 2048 AI - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7432754 - March 2014 (2 comments)
HN Plays 2048 (democracy) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7434051 - March 2014 (14 comments)
Show HN: Gameboy port of 2048 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7434529 - March 2014 (2 comments)
2048 in bash - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7435174 - March 2014 (18 comments)
Flappy + 2048 side-by-side - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7436813 - March 2014 (4 comments)
All 2048 games - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7438716 - March 2014 (4 comments)
2048 Directory - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7439663 - March 2014 (4 comments)
WebRTC 2-player 2048 on same board with matchmaking - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7445906 - March 2014 (8 comments)
2048.py - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7446524 - March 2014 (2 comments)
2048 with Stats - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7446608 - March 2014 (4 comments)
2048 game – How it started? Interview with the author - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7448745 - March 2014 (3 comments)
1125899906842624 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7448931 - March 2014 (3 comments)
Popular versions of 2048 with previews - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7449160 - March 2014 (2 comments)
What is the optimal algorithm for the game 2048? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7450244 - March 2014 (13 comments)
2048 showcase - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7459448 - March 2014 (2 comments)
Myo armband controlling 2048 [video] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7463808 - March 2014 (4 comments)
Ask HN: Why doesn't 2048 have a '1' tile? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7464533 - March 2014 (2 comments)
Ask HN: how do you commercialize something like 2048? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7473770 - March 2014 (4 comments)
2048 Golf - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7474824 - March 2014 (2 comments)
Code a 2048 bot on hackerrank - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7481542 - March 2014 (8 comments)
Show HN: I found a way to 'cheat'/solve 2048 (With live demo) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7486762 - March 2014 (10 comments)
Free Open Source Software and the 2048 Problem - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7490316 - March 2014 (9 comments)
Udacity Course: Make Your Own 2048 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7536123 - April 2014 (2 comments)
Building 2048 in AngularJS - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7554348 - April 2014 (14 comments)
2048 for stars - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7603732 - April 2014 (2 comments)
A 2048 spinoff to raise funds for cancer - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7606252 - April 2014 (3 comments)
A physics version of 2048 – stellar nucleosynthesis - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7618293 - April 2014 (2 comments)
2048 on 8-bit Sega Systems - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7620914 - April 2014 (4 comments)
Show HN: 2048 Game of Thrones Edition - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7656436 - April 2014 (2 comments)
2048 in Idris - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7668540 - April 2014 (11 comments)
2048 in Emacs - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7705947 - May 2014 (15 comments)
2048 in bash - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7708183 - May 2014 (6 comments)
(Yet another) parody of 2048, where you try to lose as fast as possible - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7713249 - May 2014 (5 comments)
2048, Wolfram Style - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7721685 - May 2014 (6 comments)
2048 gestures - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7780359 - May 2014 (2 comments)
2048 in Erlang - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7869179 - June 2014 (14 comments)
Cubic 2048 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8022498 - July 2014 (4 comments)
Show HN: Gunoki – Trainyard-and-2048-inspired Puzzle Game for iOS and Android - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8329527 - Sept 2014 (4 comments)
Twilio Plays 2048 – Multiplayer Without Internet - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8498398 - Oct 2014 (3 comments)
Can AI beat 2048? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8724754 - Dec 2014 (12 comments)
Play 2048, get paid in Bitcoins - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9195167 - March 2015 (3 comments)
Zer0: addictive Web number-game like 2048 between two news from HN ^^ - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11202264 - March 2016 (5 comments)
Show HN: WebRTC Serverless 2-player 2048 Game with Annotated Source - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12788147 - Oct 2016 (13 comments)
Show HN: Hex 2048 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15890753 - Dec 2017 (3 comments)
Ask HN: What are other awesome games like 2048? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16471374 - Feb 2018 (3 comments)
Show HN: Adversarial 2048 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31922891 - June 2022 (2 comments)
x86-64 Operating System to Play 2048 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36516496 - June 2023 (3 comments)
My brain is just too hardwired to use cursor keys and doesn’t even think to look outside the box and click the buttons with a mouse, I guess.