Yeah, but this is actually pretty lame compared to the proposals you linked. I was hoping someone had built one of those.

I'd bet this is just the first iteration. It's better to ship it before no one gets the reference =)

From guidelines[1] :

> anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity

I'd say this gratifies one's intellectual curiosity on programming and game development. I can see you not having the same opinion and I guess we can only agree to disagree.

[1]: http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Well, my thoughts are that it is, at once, a brainstorming contribution to the crowdsourced innovation spawned from both 2048 and Flappy Bird, two challenging, mentally addictive yet simple games, as well as an example of how a lot of the "pivots" derivative startups make don't in fact lead you to a better state than the local maxima you've already achieved.

Sure, it has no play value (nor replay value). And the 17th mashed up iteration of Groupon for local pet food delivery is doomed as well. But there are lessons in the failure:

--The mechanics may set the stage for a follow on game that returns the mathematical/pattern-matching element of 2048 back into the mix

--It highlights the difference between the mass market FlappyBird and the more niche appeal of 2048, both demographically and intellectually.

--It expands the mind to consider mashups of other games or game mechanics that might be interesting.

But more than this: memes of any kind are pure, intellectual riffing. It's completely refreshing to see these riffs occur in the medium of code rather than Photoshop.

I'm not saying there's a coders' equivalent of Cheezburger Network out there, but there's an opportunity far beyond what you're seeing if meme culture and coding intersect.

You ever read "The Glass Bead Game" by Hermann Hesse?

He was pretty prophetic, apart from it is not being played by monks.

edit - the interesting game that is developing is the iterating of simple games as turns in a game on the playing field of github.

Humour seems to have value inside this game, which is not surprising given the form.

It also has a fair amount of value outside it as well, which you might want to keep in mind.

"Strange how much human progress and achievement comes from contemplation of the irrelevant." - Scott Kim

You're spending a lot of effort putting it down, when others are having a good time with it or even learning something by writing it (or inspired to write yet another variant).

Those guidelines are why I flag every Snowden article.

I'd rather have cat pictures and memes than this humorless intolerance of whimsy.

Yeah, stupid kids and their stupid games! Back in my day we wrote in x86 when we wanted to have fun!