Slide all the gumnut tiles at once. Two tiles with the same number join into one with double the value. Keep the board from filling up and build the goal tile.
How Gumnut Merge works
Each swipe or arrow key moves every tile as far as it can go in that direction. When two tiles with the same number meet, they join into one tile carrying their sum, and the sum is added to your score. A tile joins only once per move, so a row of 2, 2, 2, 2 becomes 4, 4 rather than 8.
After every move that changed the board, a new tile appears in an empty cell: usually a 2, sometimes a 4. The game ends when the board is full and no two neighbouring tiles match.
The goal tile depends on the board and the difficulty: on 4 × 4 it is 1,024 on Easy, 2,048 on Normal and 4,096 on Hard; on 5 × 5 it is twice as high. Reaching it is announced, and you can keep playing for a bigger score.
Undo takes back a move together with its score and the tile that followed it. Easy allows unlimited undos, Normal 10 and Hard 3 per game. Hard also brings more 4s among the new tiles.
Controls
- Phone
- Swipe on the board in any of the four directions.
- Keyboard
- Arrow keys or WASD move the tiles. U, Backspace or Ctrl+Z undoes a move.
- Undo button
- The small number on the button shows how many undos are left in this game.
Tips from the gum tree
- Pick a home corner. Keep your biggest tile in one corner and build a falling chain along the edge next to it: 512, 256, 128 and so on.
- Lean on two directions. With a bottom-left corner, press down and left most of the time, right now and then, and up only when nothing else moves.
- Keep the home row full. A full edge row cannot slide sideways, so your biggest tile stays put when you are forced to press the third direction.
- Merge towards the chain. Join small tiles close to the chain first, so each new pair feeds the next step instead of drifting away.
- Keep undos for accidents. The same tile comes back after an undo, so undo is for a slip of the finger, not for fishing for a better tile.
Questions
Does undo give me a different new tile?
No. Undo also restores the random state, so repeating the same move brings the same tile to the same cell. Choose a different move instead.
What is the difference between 4 × 4 and 5 × 5?
The bigger board has more room and makes longer games, and its goal tile doubles to match.
Will the board still be there tomorrow?
Yes, on this browser. Leave mid-game, come back later and Continue restores the same tiles, score and undos left.
What is a numbered board for?
A board number fixes the seed, so the opening tiles and the run of new tile values are the same for everyone. It is a fair way to compare scores with a friend.