📖 Strategy Principle
The core idea of direction control is simple: throughout the entire game, try to use only three directions and completely avoid the fourth.
Based on your chosen corner, the forbidden direction is:
- Bottom-left corner: Avoid "Up" ↑
- Bottom-right corner: Avoid "Up" ↑
- Top-left corner: Avoid "Down" ↓
- Top-right corner: Avoid "Down" ↓
💡 Why Do This?
When you use the forbidden direction, your largest tile will likely leave the corner. Once it leaves, getting it back usually requires many moves, during which fatal mistakes may occur.
📊 Visual Example
Direction Usage for Bottom-Left Strategy
In ideal situations, your movement sequence might look like this:
- Down, down, down (push tiles to the bottom)
- Left, left, left (push tiles to the left side)
- Occasionally press right to adjust positions
- Almost never press up
❌ Common Mistakes
- Habitually pressing the forbidden direction: Many people unconsciously press all four directions; practice to consciously avoid this
- Impulsively pressing forbidden direction when "stuck": Sometimes it looks like you must use the forbidden direction, but there's usually another solution
- Not anticipating: Not thinking before each move whether this step will force you to use the forbidden direction next
- Overusing the third direction: For example, when using bottom-left strategy, "right" should be used cautiously, not as a primary direction
✅ Practical Tips
- Build muscle memory: Practice repeatedly using only three directions until it becomes instinct
- Primary and auxiliary directions: Mainly use two directions (like down and left), use the third direction (right) cautiously
- Anticipate in advance: Before each move, think: will I be forced to use the forbidden direction after this?
- Keep the bottom row filled: This is the best way to prevent needing to press "up"
- Accept failure: Sometimes you really must use the forbidden direction, that's okay, quickly rebuild the structure
🚨 Worst Case Scenario
When you're forced to use the forbidden direction, the worst case is when the largest tile leaves the corner and a new tile spawns exactly in its original position. At this point, recovery is almost impossible.