One of the most popular games ever to hit the app market, 2048.   Its simplicity seems to hold a certain charm that games such as Candy Crush or Clash of Clans has.

2048 was created by a 19 year old Italian web developer in March of 2014, and it’s quickly caught on with students here at school.

The basic premise of the game is to match tiles that hold the same number, a new one forming in an empty space each time you make a move. Your goal is to double them to create a 2048 tile, doing which will pull up a screen reading “You win!” The game takes place on a 4×4 grid, with two tiles (either twos or fours) being placed in random spots around the grid.

What, in this simple doubling game, causes people to be attracted when other games like Minecraft or Smash Hit are readily available on the market?

As reviews on the app store would state, 2048 requires the player to plan ahead, changing and adapting the plan, almost entirely with each move. At first glance, this looks like another boring strategy game.

What’s fun about matching number tiles and thinking of more ways to match said tiles? The fun isn’t in the matching, its what’s behind the matching that holds the true key to its success.

As Julie Taylor said, “I like that you’re doing something so simple while doing something so complex.” 2048 forces the person to adapt consciously, to actively keep the person finding more ways to exploit the tiles that lie on their grid for the one, simple goal to get one 2048 tile.

That being said, 2048 is far from easy, taking many tries to even get close to reaching your goal, only to be shut down, because in your haste, you moved a tile to a place where no more can be matched. And then there’s the point counter.

Why would someone need a point counter when the whole goal of the game is to match tiles? Reason: extra encouragement. People love one-upping each other, posting their scores on all kinds of forums to show their superiority. 2048 plays on this love of might, placing its own score counter to keep track of the matches you make.  You see, each match you make adds the product of the two matched tiles to your score.

Freshman Kiara Gunn states, “I’m so amazing at it.”  Though not a record holder, she has indeed gotten past 2048.

In modern day, people can shoot things for points or smash glass to make it farther on the map, but instead of getting familiar with a map every time you lose and improving your chances at succeeding, 2048 throws you into a different puzzle each time–a different tile in a different place can change the course of the entire game. This is what’s up with 2048