2048 STRATEGY LAB
Which 2048 strategy works better?
Instead of repeating “keep the biggest tile in a corner,” this page tests the idea. Four automated policies played 500 games each on a standard 4×4 board using the usual 2/4 spawn probabilities.
In this benchmark, a corner-chain policy with one-step lookahead averaged 9,474 points — about 8.65× the random policy — and reached the 2048 tile in 8% of games.
2,000 games · fixed seeds
Benchmark results
Each row contains 500 independent games. P90 is the score exceeded by the best 10% of runs.
| Strategy | Avg score | Median | P90 | Best | Avg moves | Reach 512 | Reach 1024 | Reach 2048 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Random valid move | 1.095 | 1.036 | 1.688 | 2.932 | 119 | 0,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| Merge-first | 1.973 | 1.756 | 3.072 | 5.512 | 178 | 2,4% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| Corner-chain | 3.764 | 3.320 | 6.560 | 15.028 | 296 | 22,8% | 1,6% | 0,0% |
| Corner + lookahead | 9.474 | 7.588 | 16.976 | 37.804 | 611 | 60,4% | 31,2% | 8,0% |
Three things the data suggests
Structure matters more than the next merge. Merge-first averaged 1,973 points, while the corner policy averaged 3,764.
Empty cells are a resource. Policies that preserve space survive longer and have more room to repair a broken number chain.
Lookahead reduces greedy moves. Even one layer of lookahead lifted the average to 9,474 and reached 1024 in 31.2% of games.
Simulation method
The benchmark uses a 4×4 board, two starting tiles, and one new tile after every valid move: 90% chance of 2 and 10% chance of 4. Each policy runs 500 fixed seeds using i × 7919 + 17. These are simple heuristics, not an optimal AI or a model of expert human play.
Use the results to compare decision principles, not as a performance ceiling. Skilled players and deeper search algorithms can score substantially higher.