2048: Newest contender for 'most addictive game' since Flappy Bird flew away

A new Web-based app called 2048 is taking the world of mobile gaming by storm. A deceptively simple numerical puzzle game, it was created by 19-year old Italian developer Gabriele Cirulli.

You may ask, 'How does a Web-app take the mobile world by storm?' It doesn't really (but we didn't mislead you). While the developer does point users to a mobile-friendly webpage for 2048, the game has spawned innumerable copies or derivatives on the Google Play and iTunes App Store - and none are by the original author.

Cirulli, on the app's GitHub page, admits 2048 is based on the Android and iOS game 1024! by Veewo Studios, and says it is conceptually similar to the Android and iOS game Threes! by Asher Vollmer.

Both 1024! and Threes! have enjoyed their popularity on the app stores, and have received glowing reviews from several major gaming publications - prompting them to forget Flappy Bird, as there is a new addictive game in town.

All three games are very similar to each other, and feature a 4x4 grid that begins getting populated by numbers. Players can combine grid tiles featuring the same number, by swiping in that direction, with the aim of creating the biggest possible number (that number is limited to 1024 and 2048 in the eponymous games).

Sounds simple? It isn't, especially when you have a global leaderboard to compete with that's filled with people that seem ridiculously smarter than you. Scoring is based on the number of tiles used to create the large number, and numerous guides, strategies (just like Flappy Bird), and algorithms (not to mention cheat bots) have been written to help get the highest possible score.

As for its addictiveness, this writer cannot fathom why people would spend hours swiping to combine numbers all for a rather dismal chance of placing high on the leaderboards. Hey, at least you can place higher than your friends, and then boast, right? Admittedly, this writer is not fond of puzzle games, especially numerical puzzle games.

So, while Dong Nguyen (the creator of the hit mobile gaming sensation Flappy Bird) recently promised to bring Flappy Bird back to app stores, mobile gamers may have something new to replace the aching void left by it - if you can stand numerical puzzle games, and have a rather strong competitive streak.