App crazes go in and out of fashion, like they did with Flappy Bird and Candy Crush not too long ago. The

new game on the scene that everyone is racing to download is simple, yet addicting – it is 2048.

Played in a 4-by-4 square of 16 blocks, players can swipe tiles up, down, right, and left to combine

like numbers to add them together into one tile. Starting with two tiles of two, every move generates

another tile, either a 4 or a 2. Players must sweep back and forth to combine twos into a four, fours into

an eight, eights into a sixteen, and so on. The ultimate objective is to reach the nearly unattainable total

2048. As you play, the game keeps track of how many points you make by totaling the numbers you

create by swiping two like tiles together. Once you reach 2048, you can keep playing and rack up points,

and even try to reach the next level, 4096. The most addicting aspect of this game is that fact that even

when you reach 2048, you can keep playing. With no limits, it is hard to stop.

One way to get a higher score fast is to pick one direction not to swipe unless you absolutely have to. I

usually choose not to swipe up, so that all my big number tiles remain close together along the bottom

of my screen.

Joining the ranks of many addicting apps, 2048 is sure to be the go-to game for a long time.