[gpvos]

Yes. You don't seem to need any backtracking to play these games correctly. This is also why the computer seems to always be able to give clear hints. (Can it really always?)

One question is whether this holds for any possible board (starting position), or if they need to be constructed in a certain way for this to be true.

I think a game like 2048 will remain interesting longer, because you need to look further ahead and take the random factor into account.