7 techniques for 2048 merge block puzzles

In classic 2048 every swipe moves the whole board, and a new 2 or 4 appears somewhere you do not choose. In a merge block puzzle like Mergio it is the other way round: the board only moves when tiles merge and settle, and you decide exactly where every new block lands. That shifts the skill from reacting to random spawns toward planning placements.

Some old advice still holds, like keeping your biggest number in a corner. Some of it turns upside down: in Mergio there is no swipe to fix a bad position, so the shape of the empty space matters as much as the numbers on the board. The techniques below are ordered from the most important to the most advanced.

After every merge, Mergio's tiles settle downward and then to the right. Gravity does part of the work for you if your largest tile sits in the bottom-right corner, because that is where loose tiles drift anyway. Fighting that pull, for example by building in the top-left, means every settle step scatters your setup.

The classic 2048 snake still works: line up decreasing values along the bottom row, then continue up the right column. A row that reads 16, 32, 64, 128 from left to right means a single new 16 can set off a run of merges toward the corner.

• Never leave a small tile trapped between two big ones in the bottom row; it blocks the run.
• When a gap opens in the row, fill it with the value that continues the sequence, not with whatever block is handy.
• Accept a slower score early to keep the order; an ordered row pays back with chains later.

Mergio deals three blocks at a time, and each block has one to four cells. A four-cell shape needs a matching gap, and blocks cannot be rotated. Most games are lost not because the numbers are wrong but because the board has plenty of free cells in shapes nothing fits into.

1. Before placing, look at all three blocks and ask where the largest one will go.
2. Prefer placements that leave one large open area instead of several small holes.
3. Fill single-cell holes with single-cell blocks whenever you get them; they are the only pieces that fit there.

You can place the three blocks in any order, and every merge empties cells. So place the block that merges first. If a 4 block lands next to a 4 on the board, the two become an 8, a cell frees up and the tiles settle, which may create exactly the gap the awkward four-cell block needed. Placing the big block first would have used the space before the merge made it.

A chain happens when a merge produces a number that immediately merges again. In Mergio every link in a chain doubles the points: the first merge scores its value, the second twice its value, the third four times. That makes chains the main source of a high score.

To set one up, look for a staircase on the board, such as a 4 next to an 8 next to a 16. Drop a 4 so that it touches the first 4. The two make an 8, which sits beside the existing 8 and merges into 16, which then meets the 16. One placement, three merges, and the last one is worth four times its value.

When two tiles merge in Mergio, the new tile appears in the cell nearer the bottom-right corner, and the board is checked side to side before top to bottom. Knowing this lets you predict where a result will sit, and therefore whether it will touch the next tile in your chain. If you place a block to the left of its twin, the result stays on the right, closer to your corner, which is usually what you want.

Once per game, Mergio lets you continue after a short ad, and the continue clears two rows and two columns. It is worth the most when your big tiles are already lined up in the bottom-right corner and the clutter is elsewhere. Used on a messy board, it only buys a few more turns.

A good turn usually reads like this: scan all three blocks, decide where the biggest one fits, place the block that merges first, check whether that merge feeds a chain toward the corner, and only then place the rest. It is slower at first, but after a few games the scan becomes automatic and the board stays open far longer.

Mergio is free on iPhone, iPad and Android, plays offline and has no levels to unlock: one endless game where the only target is a bigger tile and a better score. Its milestones go well past 2048, all the way to 65,536, so there is room to put every one of these techniques to work.