Mining 2048: Ore Match Puzzle

Start with coal. Finish with rainbow crystal.

Swap neighbouring ore to line up three of a kind, and the ore is refined — its number doubles. 1 becomes 2, 2 becomes 4, 4 becomes 8. Mining 2048 folds the easy rhythm of match 3 together with the pull of watching a number climb.

■ The board grows as you clear it
Clear three and the emptied cells refill with one refined ore and two of the original. Clear four and you get two refined. You are not just removing tiles — every match raises the grade of the board itself. That is the heart of the game. Match five or more and a powerful item drops into the leftover cells.

■ Fourteen tiers of ore
Coal, copper, iron, silver, gold, lapis lazuli, emerald, ruby, sapphire, amethyst, diamond, orichalcum, mithril and finally rainbow crystal. Rough nuggets give way to cut, faceted gems as the tiers climb. How far can you get?

■ Six items that turn the board over
🛒 Ore cart
Haul it down to the bottom row to collect a gem and a pickaxe. It can be swapped with the ore beside it, and lining up three carts in a row or column clears them for double the usual haul.

🧨 Dynamite
When it lands, every ore of the same kind as the one directly beneath it is blown clean off the board. Drop it onto a common ore and half the board turns over at once.

🌙 Moonstone
When it lands, every ore of the same kind as the one beneath it is refined and doubled. Your fastest route up the tiers.

🔥 Phoenix stone
Tap to bank it. When you run out of moves it ignites on its own, reshuffling the board so the run keeps going.

🌈 Rainbow stone
A wildcard that stands in for any ore, completing the line you could not quite reach.

⛏️ Pickaxe
Breaks any single cell you choose. It works even when you are stuck, so it is there for the last stand.

■ The deepest shafts open onto ancient ruins
Ore is not the only thing waiting down there. Ancient coins, clay figurines, stone axes, bronze bells, bronze mirrors, magatama necklaces, iron swords, inscribed tablets, ceremonial swords, golden masks, golden crowns and a gilded royal coffin — nineteen relics in all. Run shallow digs and deep digs to complete the collection. The further you go, the more each dig costs.

■ Something to come back for
- A seven day login bonus, with a big one waiting on day seven
- Quests that refresh with a new set every time you finish them
- Eighteen medals to unlock
- A dex recording every ore you have seen and every relic you own

■ Built to be easy to live with
- English and Japanese, switched with one tap
- Plays offline, with no account required
- Stop any time; it picks up exactly where you left off
- An auto mode that keeps playing the best move for you
- A portrait layout you can work comfortably one handed
- No ads getting between you and the board

■ Made for you if
- You want a puzzle that fits into a spare few minutes
- You like the feeling of a number growing
- You enjoy a screen that rewards looking at it
- You would rather think about a move than be rushed through it

Grab a pickaxe and head down the shaft.
How deep can you dig?