How to play Shipping 2048: rules, Rough Seas and tips for a high score

• Move everything at once. Press an arrow key (or W, A, S, D), or swipe on the ship. Every crate slides as far as it can in that direction, until it hits the side of the deck or another crate.
• Equal crates merge. When two crates with the same number collide, they become one crate worth both: two 8s make a 16. The new crate's value is added to your score.
• One merge per crate per move. A row of 2, 2, 2, 2 slid left becomes 4, 4, not 8. The crates nearest the side you're sliding toward merge first.
• A new crate after every move. Each move that changes the deck loads a new crate onto an empty square. Nine times out of ten it's a 2; otherwise it's a 4. A move that changes nothing doesn't count, and no new crate arrives.
• The game ends when you're stuck. Once the deck is full and no two neighbouring crates match, nothing can move and the voyage is over.

Reaching the 2048 crate is the classic goal, but the game doesn't stop there. Keep merging for 4096 and a higher score.

Your score goes up by the value of every crate you make. Merging two 2s earns 4; merging two 1024s earns 2048. Big merges are worth far more than small ones, so most of a high score comes from the late game.

Each mode keeps its own best score, shown beside your current score. Your game is saved in your browser after every move, so you can close the tab and pick up exactly where you left off. Sign in to Thorstein Games with the account button in the top bar and your best scores follow you to your other devices too.

Classic is 2048 as you know it, with one extra: undo. The Undo button (or Ctrl+Z, ⌘+Z on a Mac) takes back your last move, crates, new arrival and score included. It goes back one step only, so it rescues a slipped finger, not a whole bad plan.

Undo also works from the game over screen. If your last move filled the deck, you can step back and try a different direction.

In Rough Seas, Poseidon doesn't like you profiting off his seas. The sea darkens as your biggest crate grows, and rogue waves start rolling in.

1. A warning. After a move there's a small chance a wave is spotted. A warning flashes on the side of the deck it's coming from.
2. The strike. On your next move, whichever way you slide, the wave sweeps across the deck.
3. Overboard. Each crate along the far side of the deck has about a one in three chance of being thrown overboard. Its value comes off your score, though your score never drops below zero.

The chance of a wave depends on your biggest crate. With a 4 on deck it's about 2% a move, and it rises by about 2% each time your biggest crate doubles, up to 20% once you reach 2048. Waves never strike two moves in a row, and there's no undo out here: taking back a wave would take away the danger.

• Pick a corner and keep your biggest crate there. Most strong players build toward one corner, say bottom left, and rarely move away from it.
• Use mostly two or three directions. If your corner is bottom left, slide down and left most of the time, with right when you have to. Sliding up pulls your big crate out of its corner and lets a small crate in behind it.
• Build a chain. Line up your crates in falling order along the edge: 512, 256, 128, 64. One merge at the small end can then ripple all the way up the row.
• Keep the edge row full. A full bottom row can't shift sideways, so your corner crate stays put when you slide left or right.
• Merge small crates early. Loose 2s and 4s scattered around the deck block the bigger merges. Clean them up while you have room.
• Think one move ahead. Before each slide, check where the new crate could land. Leaving a single gap next to your corner is how a 2 gets wedged in where it hurts.

• Keyboard: the arrow keys or W, A, S, D. Ctrl+Z or ⌘+Z undoes in Classic.
• Touch: swipe on the ship. A short, deliberate swipe is enough. Swiping the sea around the ship scrolls the page instead, so you can always reach the rules below.
• Mouse: click and drag across the ship, the same as a swipe.

New Game starts over in the mode you're playing. The Rough Seas button switches modes and starts a fresh game, and the info button by the title explains the waves again.