FAQ

A challenge is the easiest way: nobody has to be online at the same time or sign up, everyone plays on their own phone, and the leaderboard ranks itself. Setting one up takes under a minute:

1. Open Challenges → Start a challenge, give it a name (say, “Sam’s Birthday Cup”), and put the rules and prizes in the description.
2. Pick the 5-minute sprint — every run gets the same time, which is fairest for a contest. Classic (no clock) suits a slower pace.
3. Set the start to when the party begins and the end to before the cake; anything from 10 minutes to 30 days works.
4. Drop the link in the group chat, or put the QR code on the TV so people can scan it.
5. Everyone can play as often as they like; only their best run counts. When it ends the board is final, and tapping a row plays back that person’s best run.

A few things that work well: give the challenge a skin — Winter for Christmas and New Year, Summer for the holidays, Pixel Arcade for a retro theme. Everyone who opens the challenge plays in the same skin and sound.

Run it across the holiday (Christmas Eve to New Year’s Day, say). People beat each other’s scores along the way, and the home screen tells you who just passed you — perfect for some friendly trash talk in the family chat.

For extra fun, add house rules in the description: the winner picks the movie, last place does the dishes.

Yes. A challenge holds up to 200 players, and everyone gets the same deck (the same tile order on the same day), so it comes down to skill, not luck. The server replays every run to check the score, so results can’t be faked.

Tips: use the 5-minute sprint; keep it open for one to three days so people on different schedules or time zones get a fair shot; spell out the rules in the description and screenshot the leaderboard at the end.

If you’d rather play live in the same room, open a private room (up to 5 players per match) and run knockout rounds.

There’s no money in the game — prizes are up to you. A setup that works: one big prize for first place, plus a small one for “most improved” or “most games played”, so newcomers have something to aim for.

Agree on the details up front: only runs before the deadline count, ties go to the bigger top tile (that’s how the leaderboard sorts anyway), and who gets to review the replays.

Up to 200 players per challenge, running from 10 minutes to 30 days; each person can have 5 live challenges of their own at a time. Unlimited tries — only the best run counts.

Times show in each viewer’s own time zone, with the offset spelled out (for example “ends Oct 25, 8:00 PM (UTC−5)”), so friends abroad won’t get it wrong.

Everyone in a challenge gets the same deck each day. Each run needs a one-time ticket from the server, and when it’s handed in the server replays the whole run with the same rules to score it (timed runs also have their timing checked). Every run is saved as a replay, so anything doubtful can simply be watched.

It’s free and there’s nothing to sign up for — open the page and play. You get a guest identity automatically; to keep your progress on another device, save your recovery code in Settings.

It runs in the browser on phones, tablets and computers — nothing to install. Swipe on touch screens; on a computer use the arrow keys or WASD, and 1 / 2 for skills.

It’s 2048 at heart, but five people play at once: merging 64 or more drops stones on a rival’s board, and bigger merges drop more. You cancel or break the stones that come your way, and when your board jams you’re out. There’s also energy and six skills. For quiet, classic 2048, use Casual solo.

Yes: the last one standing is the champion. Everyone else is placed by points: time alive counts 70%, score 30%. Only active time counts — while you keep playing, about one move a second for full credit; standing still or crawling along earns little. It is compared with the match length, your score with the best score; 100 is the maximum.

So below the champion, someone who went out early with a far higher score can finish above someone who lasted longer; if time runs out with several players still in, they are all placed by points. Stalling — staying alive without merging much — won’t earn a good place.

Also: a board that isn’t being played fills faster, and stones landing on a full board crush your smallest tiles.

To take luck out of it: everyone in a match starts from the same board, and the n-th new tile is a 2 or a 4 for everyone alike. And when several players hit the same person, the later hits shrink (×0.75 per extra attacker), so nobody gets ganged up on and wiped out.

A new one starts every Monday at 00:00 UTC, and everyone plays the same deck all week: 4×4, 5 minutes a run, as many runs as you like — your best counts.

Your first run each day earns 30 extra XP, and playing week after week builds a week streak. When the week ends you’ll see where you finished and a medal (gold, silver and bronze for the top three; also top 10%, top half and taking part) — tap to collect the XP.

Once you’ve played you can switch on “Remind me if I’m passed”: we’ll tell you when someone takes your first place or when last week’s results are in, never between 10:30 pm and 8:30 am.

Create a private room under Rooms and send friends the 5-character code, the link or the QR code. You choose the mode (Battle / Race to 2048), the board, the pace and the number of players (1–5), and AI can fill empty seats. After each match you’re back in the room for the next one.

Yes. When you create a room, set Mode to Race to 2048: no stones, skills or attacks — everyone plays their own 2048 and the first to make 2048 wins on the spot. Pick a 5, 8 or 12-minute limit; if nobody gets there in time, the biggest tile wins, then the score.

Every match is saved as a replay — open it from Stats to scrub, speed up or switch players, and share the link. Matches in progress can be watched from the room list.

Two ways: on the old phone, create a 6-digit transfer code in Settings (valid for 10 minutes) and enter or scan it on the new one; or use the 16-character recovery code you saved earlier.

Yes. After you first set it you can change it twice more — tap your name on the home screen; the dialog shows how many changes are left.

Tap the signal icon at the top of a match to see your ping. If it’s high, try another network (switch between Wi-Fi and mobile data) or pause background downloads. Casual solo and challenges run on your device, so they’re unaffected by the network.