March 23rd, 2014, 2:44 pm
2x2: 4 initial states, 2 first moves, 3 subsequent next-tiles, 3 or 4 next moves, 2 or 3 subsequent next-tiles,...then it gets messy because the sequence branches depending on whether cells got mergedGood point about the N->1. The permutations of all the gaps and merger opportunities in the four rows makes N quite high.The space of accessible game boards seems quite large, though.(Side brainteaser: what is the LOWEST score possible in this game? There's an easy theoretical answer based on the lowest-score "game-over" configuration of checkerboard of 4 & 2 but is that configuration reachable????)