TIP: GETTING BACK TO THE CORNER

Despite your best efforts, sometimes your highest numbered tile will end up in the middle of the top row and there will be a 2 or a 4 blocking the corner. When this happens, here are a few moves you can try. If your highest numbered tile is 512 or lower, then you can attempt to build toward the opposite corner until you reach the 1024 tile. If your highest tile is a 1024 or higher, then reversing corners can be difficult. For this situation I have devised a high-risk, high-reward maneuver called “The Averbach.” (Hey, If I'm going to write the rules, I might as well name one of them after myself!) Step one of The Averbach is to create a column of tiles that cannot be combined underneath your highest tile. Doing this is more of an art than a science—start by swiping left and right until you have filled the box with tiles. Then attempt to combine tiles until you have your noncollapsible column under your highest tile. This will take a bit of trial and error. Once you have your non-collapsible column, check to make sure that it isn't blocking the corner. If all looks good, then swipe down. Yes, you read that correctly; this is the only time I'll encourage you to swipe down. If all goes according to plan, the tile that is blocking the corner will slide down and you can slide the highest tile back into place.