The snake pattern is the most reliable way to build a descending chain in 2048 — and it has one failure mode you need to know about.
The snake pattern is the standard 2048 technique: build a descending chain of tiles along the bottom row, then up the next row in the opposite direction. It is reliable, and it is worth understanding why rather than copying.
It also fails in a specific, predictable way.
Build the chain, largest first
Keep your largest tile fixed in one corner. The next largest sits beside it, then the next, descending along the bottom row until you run out of row.
The chain is valuable because it means every merge happens between neighbours, so no move ever has to relocate a large tile.
Alternate direction on the next row
When the bottom row is full, continue the chain on the row above, running in the opposite direction. That is the "snake" — it keeps the merge front continuous.
Continuity is the whole point: a broken front forces large tiles to travel, and travelling large tiles is how boards die.
The failure mode: the blocked lane
The pattern fails when a small tile spawns inside the completed chain and cannot be cleared without shifting the large tiles. At that point you must choose between breaking the chain or stalling.
Break it deliberately and early. A partial rebuild is recoverable; a board that stalls with no merge available is not.