Someone made a tiny version of the 2048 game using LEDs, and it’s really cool

Remember the 2048 craze that spread across the internet? If you missed out, 2048 was a fun game where you combined identical number tiles using the arrow keys. The goal was to make the 2048 tile, which was a lot trickier than it first seemed. Now, someone has made their own version of the game using a tiny board and some LEDs, and it seems like a great way to pass the time.

Someone created a pocket version of the popular 2048 game

As spotted by Hackaday, this cool idea is the invention of David on Hackaday.io. It’s part of the Tiny Games Challenge, where people all over the world try their best to make engaging games with as little hardware as possible. Sure enough, David’s entry is both tiny in size and in scope:

• WS2812b LEDs representing the different numbers in the game with colours
• LIS3DH accelerometer for either tilt or tap based controls
• ESP32-S3 MCU for the brains and connectivity – overkill for the game itself, but I want to be able to use this as a dev board later
• Onboard battery and USB-C charging

The presentation is simple; each LED corresponds to a number on the grid. The LED will light up a specific color to represent a specific number on the board. To enter a move, you can either tilt or tap the device. The LEDs will shift, and you’ll get a new board state. Continue going until you score 2048 – or at least, whatever color represents it.

Given how the Tiny Games Challenge is still ongoing, David hasn’t listed the code he used to get the game running. However, we hope he updates the project after the contest with the code so we can give it a shot making it for ourselves Meanwhile, if you want to game on an SBC, why not check out how to emulate games on a Raspberry Pi?