City 2048 – The 2048 game of my dreams

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I periodically browse the Play store hoping to find previously unknown (to me, anyway) gems – whether they be games, productivity apps, or anything else doesn’t matter. I’ll spend ages flipping through pages of apps looking for the next shiny new app. It was in one of these sessions this weekend that I found City 2048 and it has sated my app hunger, at least for a while.

Like any 2048 game, the goal is to combine like-tiles to create higher-tiered tiles. You continue to combine these tiles to get a larger score. However the challenge is to combine tiles in such a way that you don’t run out of board space and get a grid-lock. Endlessly swiping the tiles back and forth can prove to be quite an addicting time waster and there’s heaps of copies and variants on the web and anywhere simple, time-wasting games can be found.

City 2048 stands out from the sea of autumn-toned number pushers like a beautiful, vector lighthouse. Instead of the usual number tiles, City 2048 features an isometric grid of tree and house tiles. The tile that would normally be represented by a “2” is instead a lovely grove of trees.

How have I never seen or heard of this game before?

The “4” tile is a small group of houses. As you combine the tiles, the buildings get bigger – a mansion, a block of townhouses, high-rise apartments. The art style is truly superb in this game and makes what is usually a visual simplistic game gorgeous. The downside is that it does take a bit extra time to get used to the tiles. Numbers are straight forward and easily to follow but different building configurations is another thing.

I was surprised by the music as well. Cool jazz overlaid with the sound of birds chirping and wind blowing. Combined with the art style it really makes the perfect, high-end 2048 variant. And it’s free!

“How have I never seen or heard of this game before?” was my first thought upon finding City 2048 in the Google Play store. My second thought was, “This is exactly what I want.”

The only downside I’ve come across while playing is responsiveness. Occasionally the game will lag out on my Nexus 7 tablet – usually when the game tries to render a cloud over my little city. The game also occasionally freezes up and halts after I’ve grid-locked my board. It can take quite a few seconds for my final score board to show up and allow me to restart. Generally though it’s not a prohibitive problem. I also concede that my tablet is nearly three years old, which could be part of the problem.

While it’s not anything ground breaking or innovative, I highly recommend City 2048 as a beautiful new take on 2048 puzzle genre. You will not regret it.

City 2048 is available on Android and iOS devices.

This game was free, so I didn’t have to get a review key.

2 Comments

  1. Ellie   •  

    I love this game. I like it because it’s simple I still want to get better. I like listening to audiobooks after a long day of grad school and reading and it’s perfect for playing while relaxing and listening to a book. The number version, 2048, I don’t like as much. The trees are calming for some reason and the numbers remind me of things I have to do. It’s a great game.

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