Slide sends every tile as far as it can go, and a
new one appears anywhere. Step moves everything exactly one
cell, the new tile comes off a shuffled deck, and you get to see it
before you commit. Two famous games, one underneath.
Four in a line
Four the same in a row become one
worth four times as much, instead of two worth double. The same total
either way â but one cell instead of two, and two rungs up the ladder
in a single move.
Tiles show
Pick a number and every tile carries its value,
counting in 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 â count in 3 and you get 3, 6, 12, 24,
which is the same puzzle as 2, 4, 8, 16 move for move and very good
practice at a times table.
Pick a shape and there are no numbers at all: the
colour and the size say everything, which is the whole
point of the game and the way a five-year-old plays it.
They are one choice because they cannot both be true â and because
with the numbers off, what you count in makes no difference to
anything you can see.
Aiming at
Leave it on â and there is no finish line â the
game ends when nothing can move, and the only thing to beat is your
own biggest tile. Pick a number instead and you get a win to aim at;
you can always carry on afterwards.
0
â 0
2
next
Swipe, or use the arrow keys
Done!
đ One thing to do
Swipe. Up, down, left or right â on a keyboard, the arrow keys.
That is the whole game.
Everything on the board slides that way at once. A tap does
nothing: there is nothing to tap, and a stray one should never guess
which way you meant.
â Two the same combine
When two tiles with the same value slide into each other they
become one tile worth both of them together.
Nothing is ever created and nothing is ever lost. Add up the whole board
before a move and after it and you get the same number â a merge just
puts it in fewer places.
In đĒ Triples it takes three the same instead of two.
đ¨ Reading a tile three ways
Every tile tells you what it is worth three times over, so you
only need whichever one you can use:
đ Colour changes at every single step, so two tiles that are one
step apart are never the same colour.
đ Size only ever grows, and it grows fast: from the
smallest tile to nearly a whole square takes twelve steps. That is where
almost every game is played.
â A ring means the colours have come round again. A ringed tile
is always enormously bigger than the plain one of the same colour, and
two rings means the third time round.
đĸ The number, if you chose numbers. In Settings, Tiles
show is one list: a number to count in, or a shape with no numbers
at all.
Big numbers are shortened â 16k is 16,000-ish â and on a very
small screen with a very big board some tiles show no number at all,
because a number too small to read is worse than none â circles fit
the most, triangles the fewest. The bar at the top always has the
exact value of your biggest tile.
𧹠A new tile every move
Every move that changes something puts a new small tile on the
board. A move that changes nothing is not a move at all â nothing
appears, and nothing is wasted.
In Step movement the next tile comes off a shuffled deck and you
can see it coming, in the corner of the bar. It lands on the side
you swiped away from.
đ When it ends
It is over when no direction changes anything â that is the real
ending in this kind of game, and it is what you get by
default.
If you want a finish line as well, there is one in Settings under
Aiming at: pick a tile to chase and reaching it is a
win. You can stop there or carry on. Leave it on â and the
only thing to beat is your own biggest tile on that board, which
the game remembers for you.
A full board is not over â if two neighbours match, there is still
a move in it.
âŠī¸ Undo takes back your last move, once. A mis-swipe should never
be a punishment for having fingers.
đĄ Stuck? đ Curious?
đĄ shows you a good move â an arrow across the board for a
moment. You get a few each game and the number left is on the bulb; a
longer board gets more, because it is a longer game.
đ hands the board to the computer and lets you watch it play.
Tap it again, or just swipe, to take over whenever you like.
A watched game is never scored. Not the score, not your biggest
tile â once the computer has touched a board, that board cannot set a
best. It is for showing somebody how it works, not for collecting.
đī¸ Nine games in one
The board is 4x4, 5x5 or 6x6. A small board is
unforgiving but quick; a big one is forgiving and a long haul. Neither is
the young one â it is a size, not an age.
Then Movement changes how it plays, and Counting in changes
what it is called. Counting in 3 gives you 3, 6, 12, 24 â exactly the
same puzzle, and your three times table for free.