Common 2468/2048 Mistakes and How to Fix Them

Mistake 1: Anchor Drift

Your highest tile leaves the corner. This collapses edge order.

Fix: Stop using the direction that moved it. Compress toward the intended corner until reseated, then rebuild edge order.

A low tile sneaks into the anchor edge and blocks the pipeline.

Fix: Push away from the anchor to free the edge, merge clutter in the interior, then reestablish descending order on the edge.

Too many small tiles in the center reduce mobility.

Fix: Merge upward/sideways away from the anchor side to create empties; reintroduce order before large merges.

Rushing merges breaks adjacency and burns space.

Fix: Revert to compress-first behavior. Count empties and plan a two-step alignment before merging.

Practice diagnosing the failure, then executing the matching recovery. Play now and test yourself.