First, I purchased Threes only after becoming aware of it because of 2048. I bet there are hundreds of people who can claim the same thing.
Second, if you've spent any time playing both, the term 'clone' does both games a dis-service... its like calling Checkers a 'clone' of Chess because they are both played on the ame type of gameboard. The gameplay between the two games is completely different, and I find I think about each one differently. 2048 (and my favorite variant the hexagon-based 16384) are 'fast twitch' games. Threes is a slow thinker with more strategy. let run down some differences:
- in 2048, the numbers slide all the way in the direction you move. in Threes they only move one space.
- in 2048, a number '2' (or occasionally a number '4') appears in a random position on the board. With Threes, the piece always appears in one of the positions that opens up with your 'slide'.
- in Threes, you get to know (roughly) what piece is coming next, and have an active choice in where it appears... in 2048, you don't.
All of these might seem like subtle changes, but they make a dramatic difference in the mental exercise of the gameplay.
To call these clones makes as much sense to me as calling them all clones of the classic '15-puzzle'.
> All of these might seem like subtle changes, but they make a dramatic difference in the mental exercise of the gameplay.
To call these clones makes as much sense to me as calling them all clones of the classic '15-puzzle'.
There's a continuum of changes. If Threes is '1', and 2048 is '2', then 15 puzzle is 9 or 10. There the only commonality is the 4x4 grid and the idea of moving a tile into an empty space.
I agree, I also bought/gained knowledge of "Threes" after first playing 2048...
To add to the differences in game play you listed, I find myself managing the pairing of RED and BLUE tiles in "Threes" more of an objective than matching the numbers because if you don't the game quickly ends.
First, I purchased Threes only after becoming aware of it because of 2048. I bet there are hundreds of people who can claim the same thing.
Second, if you've spent any time playing both, the term 'clone' does both games a dis-service... its like calling Checkers a 'clone' of Chess because they are both played on the ame type of gameboard. The gameplay between the two games is completely different, and I find I think about each one differently. 2048 (and my favorite variant the hexagon-based 16384) are 'fast twitch' games. Threes is a slow thinker with more strategy. let run down some differences:
- in 2048, the numbers slide all the way in the direction you move. in Threes they only move one space.
- in 2048, a number '2' (or occasionally a number '4') appears in a random position on the board. With Threes, the piece always appears in one of the positions that opens up with your 'slide'.
- in Threes, you get to know (roughly) what piece is coming next, and have an active choice in where it appears... in 2048, you don't.
All of these might seem like subtle changes, but they make a dramatic difference in the mental exercise of the gameplay.
To call these clones makes as much sense to me as calling them all clones of the classic '15-puzzle'.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/15_puzzle