The rules in one minute
Move the entire board left, right, up or down. Equal adjacent tiles merge once per move, adding their new value to your score. After a move that changes the board, a new 2 or 4 appears in an empty cell. An ineffective move adds no tile. Reach 2048, then keep going if you like.
One move, one merge per tile
A practical first strategy
Pick a corner for your highest tile. Build a descending line along that edge, and avoid moving the high tile away unless there is a clear reason. Keeping empty cells is often more useful than taking the first available merge. Random tiles mean that no move sequence guarantees a win.
Controls
On a phone, swipe the board or use the four arrow buttons. On a computer, focus the board and press the arrow keys. New game clears the board and score. Progress is not saved after leaving the page.