2048 cubed

2048 Cubed rebuilds the number-merging puzzle inside a 3-by-3-by-3 WebGL grid. Arrow keys handle the familiar plane, F and V reach into depth, and temporary layer views help untangle a board that refuses to stay flat.

What is 2048 cubed?

The page takes 2048's tidy arithmetic and folds it into a wireframe cube. Its published controls assign four directions to the arrow keys, two depth directions to F and V, and the number keys to temporary layer isolation. Mouse dragging and the wheel adjust the camera, while equal-numbered cubes merge toward the usual 2048 target. The extra axis supplies both the novelty and the mischief: a promising match can sit behind another layer, so reading the board becomes a spatial puzzle rather than a quick scan. An animation toggle can remove some movement, and a query-string hard mode adds the possibility of zero-valued cubes.

What you can do there

• Move numbered cubes across six directions
• Merge equal cubes toward 2048
• Rotate, zoom, and isolate layers of the grid

Why we picked it

This is a specific, legible twist on a familiar browser game: it changes the board's geometry instead of merely repainting the tiles. The six-direction control scheme and layer-isolation keys show real thought about making a compact 3D puzzle navigable, even if the presentation retains the rough edges of a small WebGL experiment.

How to get the most from it

Open the question-mark panel before making a move. Learn the arrow-key plane first, then add F and V for depth; hold 1, 2, or 3 when the cube becomes visually crowded, and rotate the camera only after checking the isolated layers.

Good to know

The documented interface is keyboard-forward and requires WebGL. Its animation control is explicitly labeled a work in progress, while touch support, audio, save behavior, accessibility, and current-browser performance are undocumented. The optional ?hard=true mode can introduce zero-valued cubes.

Who made it, and when?

Alexander St Laurent is the credited creator or organization. A documented update was recorded July 25, 2020.