Gabriele Cirulli

Italian web developer who made the viral puzzle game 2048 in a weekend

Netherlands Indie Game Makers Open Source Makers

Gabriele Cirulli at a glance

Known for: 2048 mobile apps and 2048
Based in: Netherlands
Indie since: 2014
Active products: 2048

Facts checked 2026-10-22

About Gabriele Cirulli

Gabriele Cirulli is an Italian web designer and developer who created 2048, the sliding-tile number puzzle that went viral in March 2014. He was 19 and built it over a single weekend to see if he could make a game from scratch, crediting Threes and the clone 1024 as inspirations. He published it free and open source on GitHub.

2048 drew more than 4 million visitors in less than a week and spawned countless clones and spin-offs, which Cirulli embraced as part of open source. He initially chose not to profit from a concept he did not invent; he later built ad-supported mobile apps, which he sold to the publisher Solebon in 2017, and eventually added light advertising to the web version.

Cirulli moved from Italy to the Netherlands in 2014 and worked as a developer, most recently for about three years at 1Password. In October 2023 he left to work on 2048 full-time, spending a year on a rebuilt version with smoother animations, undo and optional power-ups, while keeping the classic mode online.

Products by Gabriele Cirulli

2048

play2048.co

Sliding-tile puzzle where players merge numbered tiles to reach 2048; free, open source and played over 100 million times.

2048 mobile apps

play2048.co

acquired

Ad-supported iOS and Android versions of 2048, sold to publisher Solebon in 2017.

Timeline

2014 — Built 2048 in a weekend and released it on 9 March; it drew over 4 million visitors in under a week.
2014 — Released official iOS and Android versions in May and moved to the Netherlands.
2017 — Sold the 2048 mobile apps to Solebon.
2023 — Left his job at 1Password in October to work on 2048 full-time.
2024 — Launched a rebuilt 2048 with undo, new animations and optional power-ups.

How Gabriele builds

Weekend projects can become global hits.
Open source invites remixes; let others build on your work.
Do not over-monetize a simple game people love.

Gabriele Cirulli FAQ

Who is Gabriele Cirulli?

Who made 2048?

2048 was made by Gabriele Cirulli, an Italian web developer who built it in a single weekend at age 19 and released it on 9 March 2014.

How much money did 2048 make?

Cirulli made the original 2048 free with no ads and has not published revenue figures; he later sold the mobile apps to Solebon in 2017 and now runs light ads on the web version.

Where is Gabriele Cirulli from?

He is from Italy and has lived in the Netherlands since 2014.

What is Gabriele Cirulli doing now?

In October 2023 he left 1Password to work on 2048 full-time and has since released an updated version with undo and power-ups (as of 2024).

Was 2048 copied from Threes?

Cirulli has said 2048 is conceptually similar to Threes and was directly inspired by 1024, itself a Threes-like game, which is why he chose not to profit from it at first.