2048 Math Game

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TPRJones
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Post by TPRJones »

Yeah, I work similarly. I think the last few games I've played have been mistake-free on my part. What kills me is when the board requires a move in a direction I don't want to go and a 2 or 4 slips in behind the lines. There's almost no way to get rid of those things, especially later in the game.
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Post by TheCatt »

TPRJones wrote:Yeah, I work similarly. I think the last few games I've played have been mistake-free on my part. What kills me is when the board requires a move in a direction I don't want to go and a 2 or 4 slips in behind the lines. There's almost no way to get rid of those things, especially later in the game.
I would argue if you let a 2 or 4 slip in behind the lines, then you weren't playing mistake free :p
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TPRJones
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Post by TPRJones »

Sometimes you can only move it in one direction because of the random placement of new pieces. I don't consider making the only move possible, no matter how bad it is, to be a mistake.
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Post by TheCatt »

TPRJones wrote:Sometimes you can only move it in one direction because of the random placement of new pieces. I don't consider making the only move possible, no matter how bad it is, to be a mistake.
Right, so you have to set yourself up in such a way that a move you want is available, regardless of where the new piece lands.
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TPRJones
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Post by TPRJones »

It depends entirely on how much of a factor you think that the random element is.

There are in theory random drops of 2s that could result in a guaranteed 2048 with just left/down/repeat (although of course it would be astronomically unlikely). I think there are also random drops of 2s that can't be won reasonably.

The only way to guarantee never getting a 2 behind the lines is to keep the board at least 37.5% empty at all times, and that just isn't possible.
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Post by TheCatt »

TPRJones wrote:It depends entirely on how much of a factor you think that the random element is.

There are in theory random drops of 2s that could result in a guaranteed 2048 with just left/down/repeat (although of course it would be astronomically unlikely). I think there are also random drops of 2s that can't be won reasonably.

The only way to guarantee never getting a 2 behind the lines is to keep the board at least 37.5% empty at all times, and that just isn't possible.
In theory, that may be true.

But barely. The simulations show that random tops out around 256.
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TPRJones
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Post by TPRJones »

Interesting. Although I wouldn't consider 1,000,000 simulated games to be a sufficiently large universe to answer that question.
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Post by Vince »

Got my 2048 this morning while drinking coffee and farting around before work.
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TPRJones
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Post by TPRJones »

Finally got it! And only leftovers worthy of mention were a 64 and 2x32s.
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Post by Vince »

24332 was my final. Moved quite a few more after I got home.
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Post by TheCatt »

TPRJones wrote:Finally got it! And only leftovers worthy of mention were a 64 and 2x32s.
That's the key. Don't build up other large #s. Keep the rest of the board as empty as possible.

Nice work!
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Post by TPRJones »

Another win, nothing left over above a 4.
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