I first discovered the game 2048 sometime in 2014. I really liked the elegance of its game play, and the fact that not just tiles compose, but so do strategies. And with that, I've distilled a set of 2048 Principles that consistently get me to 4096 (see here and here).
These are different from the popular corner strategy. These are just strategies that I've derived. And they must be vigilantly applied, anywhere abouve 512. Chime in with any strategies you've derived too. Enjoy :)
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Board Hygiene - Keep the board as empty as possible. Avoid dangling tiles at all costs.
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Tile Balance - Only join when you have a symmetrical set of pairs; avoid joining when there's only a sequential kind of 3.
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Step-Wise Movement - Prefer placing (or snaking) tiles in a linear sequence. 32, 16, 8 , 8 , is an example of a good sequence of tiles.
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Tradeoffs & Juggling Sides - Any movement places new tiles on the opposite side of the move direction. Constraining where tiles appear on an opposing side, means juggling tile accumulation on at least 2 sides.
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High Tile Proximity - High Tiles should be in close proximity. Avoid maintaining duplicates of anything abouve 64.
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Laziness - With a ready-to-join sequence of tiles, avoid joining them until all other options are exhausted.