pauraque: Guybrush writing in his journal adrift on the sea in a bumper car (monkey island adrift)
phone screenshot with colorful grid of number tiles labeled with powers of two

This casual puzzle game by Danish developer Mike Bellika is a cross between 2048 and match-three. Matching three tiles turns them into one tile that's the next higher power of two. Matching more tiles at once results in higher powers of two. If you don't plan your moves the higher powers will be spread all over the board and impossible to match, so it's more of a strategic stop-and-think game than the continuous flow of 2048 where once you get into it the right move is almost always obvious. It can be addictive like 2048, but it hits a different part of the brain.

My only complaint is that with the large board size the tiles' hitboxes are pretty small and I have trouble swiping them with my thumb, so I end up tapping instead of sliding. But since it's not a game you play fast anyway, that's not such a big deal.

You can play ExponenTile in your browser, and there are apps for Android and iOS. All versions of the game are free with no ads. Hat tip to [personal profile] jesse_the_k for the recommendation!

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