Plants vs. Zombies

Overview

Zombies are invading your home and the only way to stop them is by making use of your supply of undead-killing plants. You have a variety of plants at your disposal such as pea-shooters, cherry bombs, wall-nuts, and potato mines to name a few. There are different kinds of zombies with unique properties that attempt to cross the player's lawn. Earn an arsenal of 49 plants to stop the zombies from invading your home. The game features obstacles such as a setting sun, a creeping fog, and a swimming pool to make each level more challenging. This game plays similarly to a traditional tower defense game, but with the zombies marching in straight lines alone the lanes, allowing the player to block their path by putting plants directly in their way.

Plants vs. Zombies was originally released as a flash game on PopCap's website. It is also available as an installable game PC, Mac, and iOS devices. However, the versions available on iOS devices only contain Adventure mode and lack the modes available in the other versions. The iPad version of the game, named Plants vs. Zombies HD features higher resolution graphics over the iPhone and iPod Touch version. The game was released on XBLA on September 8th, 2010. The Xbox 360 version has been available bundled in a retail disk with Zuma and Peggle since September 28th, 2010.

Gameplay

Plants vs Zombies is a tower defense game. The player saves up resources (solar energy, or Sun) to buy and place plants on a 5x9 grid that represents their lawn. Zombies slowly move from the right of the screen to the player's house on the left. Unlike most tower defense games, the zombies generally move in a straight path along the grid. Over the course of the game, the player earns and buys additional plants. The player is only allowed to use a certain number of plants in a level. At the beginning of every level, the player must choose which plants to use. There are a variety of unique plants to choose from, ranging between multiple types of offensive and defensive plants.

The goal of the game is to prevent the zombies from reaching your home and eating your brains. Each level has a column of lawnmowers, pool cleaners, or roof cleaners that serve as a final line of defense. If a zombie manages to get through every obstacle in its way then one of the defenses is triggered and all enemies in that row are automatically destroyed. Their is only one defensive machine in each row and each one can only be used once per level. Lawnmowers are automatically given to the player, but pool and roof cleaners must be purchased from the game's shop. If a single zombie manages to make it past the final line of defense the player loses.

Players are awarded coins or diamonds at the end of the level, with bonus coins awarded for remaining final defenses. Zombies sometimes also drop coins. Coins can be used to buy new plants and other items from the player's neighbor, Crazy Dave.

Every ten levels, the game changes from day to night (and so on), requiring different strategies and plants that normally only work at night. Some night stages also feature a blanket of fog that hides a portion of the playing grid from the player. After 20 levels, the zombies make an attempt on the player's backyard, where they have a pool that spans the length of the level, requiring completely different plants to defend. The final set of levels has the player fighting zombies on the roof of their house where the player needs to buy flower pots to be able to use any plant.

Some levels in the game's Adventure Mode don't use solar energy or let the player choose which plants to bring into the level. These levels instead have a scrolling bar at the top of the screen where different plants appear in the form of a card. The player then simply takes the card and plants it whenever he or she chooses, without having to use the economic portion of the game. However, the unpredictability of the scrolling bar tends to make these levels more hectic than usual.

Other modes and levels change the game mechanics entirely, presenting the player with bowling levels, variations on PopCap favorites such as Bejeweled and Insaniquarium, or allowing the player to control the zombies in order to defeat the plants.

Plants

Economy Plants

Economic Plants are the plants that add to the player's resource-collection rate. These plants spawn Sun points, which are then used to create more plants. The most basic of these are the Sunflowers, which spawn extra Sun during the daytime. Its mushroom counterpart, which is the Sun-shroom, sleeps during the day, but produces Sun at night. Instead of giving you solar-points, the Marigold flower gives you silver and gold coins.

Plant	Description	Sun Cost
	Although it is totally passive and doesn't affect the zombies in any way, the Sunflower is essential for the player as it will "bloom" every so often, producing extra Sun to spend on the player's arsenal. It costs 50 Sun to plant, and it produces one normal-sized piece of Sun (worth 25 solar-points) every 24.3 seconds. With the appropriate upgrade card, Sunflowers can be upgraded to Twin Sunflowers (see below)	50
	This analog to the Sunflower is less expensive, but starts out small, producing only 15 Sun units per bloom until they grow to full size and produce 25 per bloom from then on. Like all mushrooms, Sun-Shrooms sleep during daytime levels, but can be woken up by a Coffee Bean plant.	25
	Unlocked towards the end of the game, Marigolds serve no purpose during individual battles, but help out the player in their efforts in the game at large. These plants are similar to the Sunflower, but when they bloom, they produce money instead of Sun. Every 24 seconds, the Marigold drops a silver coin ($10) or gold coin ($50) which can then be used for purchases from Crazy Dave.	50

Offensive Plants

Offensive Plants attack the incoming waves of zombies. In order to properly hold off the undead horde, one must use different offensive strategies depending on the situation.

Plant	Description	Sun Cost
	The reliable Peashooter is your basic line of defense, and the only plant the player is given from the very start of the game. They shoot peas at attacking zombies. Peashooters are able to decapitate normal zombies in ten shots.	100
	A one-time use weapon that will instantly kill the zombies on whatever square it's planted on as well as all immediately adjacent squares. It has a very quick charge, but it causes no damage if eaten before it explodes.	150
	A close relative to the Peashooter, this plant fires icy peas that freeze whatever zombie it hits, greatly slowing their forward progress. They do the same damage as a Peashooter and have the same firing rate, though they cost 175 Sun.	175
	Chompers devour normal-sized zombies in one bite, but take plenty of time to chew their food, during which time they are completely defenseless. They can attack one square ahead of them, so they do best planted behind another unit. Additionally, they can also attack one square behind them, making them a valid defence against Digger Zombies.	150
	Another close relative of the Peashooter, this angry plant shoots two peas at once. If the player has purchased the appropriate Upgrade Card from Crazy Dave, the Repeater can be upgraded to the Gatling Pea, which fires four peas at once.	200
	The Threepeater, a unique plant and not an upgrade to the Repeater, is a clever plant that shoots a single pea not only into the lane it's in, but into the lanes above and below it as well; it will fire peas if it detects a zombie in any of those three lanes, making it a very valuable defensive weapon.	325
	Every time the Split Pea fires, it launches one pea forward and two peas backwards, making it specifically useful against digger zombies, but not much else.	125
	This is the weakest mushroom, being the first plant the player comes across with limited range (3 squares). On the other hand, the Puff-shroom is the only plant that is absolutely free to place, making it invaluable during the night when sun is scarce.	0
	The Fume-Shroom fires a burst of spores up to six squares in front of them. This spore blast will pass through multiple zombies, unlike peas, and will also penetrate the screen doors that specific zombies carry for defence.	75
	Scaredy-Shrooms, like Pea-Shooters, can hit zombies all the way across the lawn, but unfortunately, they live up to their name and are terrific cowards; Scaredy-Shrooms will hide when enemies get within two squares of them, taking them out of the fight until they are eaten or the zombie is destroyed.	25
	The uncreatively-named Ice-Shroom will explode, freezing every zombie on the screen solid for a few seconds. Some special zombies are either unaffected or merely slowed by this attack.	75
	The Doom-Shroom is the most powerful of all exploding plants. It destroys all zombies in a huge area, but leaves a crater behind. The crater cannot be planted on until it fades away three full minutes after the explosion.	125
	Jalapeños explode and destroy an entire lane of zombies with fire.	125
	Torchwoods are passive plants, but any and all peas that pass through their fire will catch aflame and become Fire Peas that deal twice as much damage as regular peas. Keep in mind, though, that Snow Pea shots that pass through a Torchwood will melt and turn into regular peas, without the slowing effect.	175
	Sea-shrooms are aquatic plants that shoot short ranged spores. The pool-based equivalent of a Puff-Shroom, they can be planted without use of a lily-pad.	0
	The unusual Starfruit shoots stars in the directions of the five points of a star when it detects zombies at any of those positions. This unfortunately means they cannot fire at zombies in their own lane unless they're right next to the Starfruit, but it does make them useful for defending multiple lanes at once.	125
	Cabbage-Pults hurl cabbages at an arc at the enemy, useful on roof levels where the angle of the roof makes the straight-firing Peashooters useless.	100
	Like the Cabbage-Pult, the Kernal-Pult is ideal for rooftop levels. It normally launches kernals of corn, which do less damage than peas, but every time it fires, it has a chance of instead launching a full stick of butter, which not only does the same amount of damage as a pea, it will stop a zombie in their tracks, halting their attack and allowing other plants to get free hits in. If two Kernel-Pults are right next to each other, they can be upgraded into a single Cob Cannon (see below).	100
	The Melon-pult lobs extremely high-damage watermelons at incoming zombies. The watermelons smash on impact, causing further damage to other nearby zombies.	300

Defensive Plants

Defensive plants hold off or divert the attacking swarm long enough for the offensive plants to cause heavy damage. They are best used in conjunction with other plants to ensure home safety.

Plant	Description	Sun Cost
	These stout-hearted fellows are useful when placed in front of other plants the player wants to protect. The Wall-Nut can take a great deal of damage before getting destroyed, allowing the player to damage tougher zombies without risking critical attack pieces. Advanced zombies are able to jump or fly over the Wall-Nut.	50
	This inexpensive fellow takes a while to activate after being planted, but once he does, he'll blow up any zombie that steps on him, dealing instant death to all but the strongest units. Digger Zombies that attempt to burrow under Potato Mines will also trigger them, dying instantly.	25
	When eaten, it causes the eating zombie to turn around and fight for the player. Can only be consumed once and they cost 75 Sun to plant.	75
	Tall-Nuts are heavy-duty wall plants that can't be vaulted over. Ladder zombies are still able to climb over them and other advanced zombies can squish them. They can take an astonishing 144 bites before being destroyed and they cost 125 sun.	125
	Squashes will smash the first zombie that gets close to it. They deal area-of-effect damage to all zombies that happen to be there when triggered, and can sense zombies both in front of or behind it, making it a good defence against Digger Zombies.	50
	Pumpkins do not take up a grid-space of their own, but are planted on top of other plants. They shelter that plant for the same number of bites as a wall-nut, though a number of zombie types can still vault over them.	125
	Tangle Kelp are aquatic plants that pull the first zombie that nears them underwater, destroying them instantly at the cost of the Tangle Kelp.	25
	Blovers immediately blow away all Balloon Zombies on the field and also temporarily removes all fog from the map at night, revealing the full map..	100
	Single-use plant that destroys a grave. During nighttime levels, graves obstruct planting and serve as spawn points for zombies. It takes around five seconds for the Grave Buster to destroy the grave, and the plant can still be consumed by zombies while working.	75
	When a zombie attempts to eat a Garlic, it will be disgusted by the taste and instead divert into another lane, making it good for funnelling zombies away from weak areas.	50
	Umbrella Leaves protect plants in a 3x3 square radius around it from Bungee Zombies and catapults.	100
	Magnet-shrooms remove metal objects from zombies within a large circular radius. This serves a variety of purposes; helmets and buckets can be removed to lower defence, ladders can be eliminated as a threat, jack-in-the-box explosives can be neutralized, Digger Zombies can be deprived of their pickaxes, etc.	100
	Spikeweeds cannot be eaten and hurt zombies walking on them. They also pop the tires of zombonis that attempt to drive over them, but then the spikeweed is destroyed in the process.	100

Utility Plants

These plants don't fit well within the offensive or defensive categories, but are nevertheless essential for surviving the zombie apocalypse.

Plant	Description	Sun Cost
	Lily Pads let the player plant non-aquatic plants on top of them. This is used for levels in the backyard, where the player has a pool covering central two lanes.	25
	A mushroom pant is usually asleep during daytime levels, but each can be woken up by planting a coffee bean on it. Though mushrooms are cheap, Coffee Beans cost 75 sun, so the player must ensure that using the mushroom is economically efficient.	75
	Planterns light up an area, letting the player see through fog on levels in which it hides the identities of incoming zombies.	25
	Flower Pots let the player plant on the roof by placing other plants on them.	25
	Imitaters let you use two of the same plant during a level, which means you do not have to wait for the plant to recharge. The Imitater can not imitate the so-called "Upgrade Plants", but only the regular plants that you do not have to buy from Crazy Dave. When you want to purchase a plant (using Sun) using the Imitater, you will have to wait for about 2 seconds before the Imitator turns into that plant. The plants you bought using the Imitator will have a lighter shade (unless they got upgraded). You can purchase this item for $30,000 in Crazy Dave's shop. The Imitater is the only buyable plant that does not get more expensive after every purchase during the "endless survival mode".	Depends

Upgrade Plants

Unlike the other plants in the game, upgrade plants are purchased from Crazy Dave's Shop instead of being earned through the adventure mode. They are displayed on purple cards and regenerate slower than the other cards. They are each planted on and thus enhance a specific other plant type,

Plant	Description	Sun Cost
	Upgrades the Repeater. Gatling Peas fire four peas per reload cycle (as opposed to the two of the repeater). You can purchase this upgrade for $5,000 in Crazy Dave's shop.	250
	Upgrades the Sunflower. The Twin Sunflower produces 50 Sun each bloom instead of 25 Sun per bloom. You can purchase this upgrade for $5,000 in Crazy Dave's shop.	150
	Upgrades the Fume-Shroom. Gloom-shroom emits puffs of fumes in all directions when a zombie is nearby. You can purchase this upgrade for $7,500 in Crazy Dave's shop.	150
	Upgrades the lily-pad. The Cattail is a versatile attacker that targets the closest zombie. It can also shoot down air targets in any lane. You can purchase this upgrade for $10,000 from Crazy Dave's shop.	225
	Upgrades the Melon-Pult. The Winter Melon deals an area attack that affects multiple rows of zombies and slows their movement. You can purchase this upgrade for $10,000 in Crazy Dave's shop.	200
	Upgrades the Magnet-Shroom. In addition to the abilities of a regular Magnet-Shroom, the Gold Magnet also attracts coins that get dropped in the level. You can purchase this upgrade for $3,000 in Crazy Dave's shop.	50
	Upgrades Spikeweeds. Spikerock upgrade Spikeweeds to inflict higher damage and become more durable. You can purchase this upgrade for $7,500 in Crazy Dave's shop.	125
	Upgrades two Kernel-Pults. The most devastating plant in the game. It destroys zombies in an area, then takes thirty seconds to reload. Because this plant uses two spots instead of one, it is not very space-economic and it cannot be protected by a Pumpkin. You can purchase this upgrade for $20,000 in Crazy Dave's shop.	500

Zombies

Zombies are the evil menace whose sole task is to invade your home and eat your brains. Naturally, you want to keep your brain for your own use. All zombies can be destroyed through enough firepower, and when the zombie is almost dead, one of their arms will pop off to alert the player. However, zombies have devised cruel and foul ways to try fighting through your plant-ary defences. A number of different zombie types are listed below. Which plants will you use to hold off the horde?

Zombie	Description
	Regular Garden-variety Zombie, they'll slowly walk forward and attack any plants they come into contact with.
	Flag Zombies marks the arrival of a huge pile or "wave" of zombies. Although they carry flags, these are functionally identical to regular zombies. If the player has created a customized "Zombatar", the Flag Zombie takes on its appearance.
	His traffic cone headpiece makes him twice as tough as normal zombies.
	Pole Vaulting Zombie moves fast and hops over the first plant it comes across instead of attacking or triggering it, at which point it slows to a crawl and acts much like a regular zombie.
	His bucket hat allows him to take five times as much damage as a normal zombie, but unlike the Conehead Zombie's cone, the bucket can be pulled off by a Magnet-Shroom, stripping away its protection.
	His newspaper provides limited defence, and when it is destroyed, he becomes enraged and begins moving much faster.
	His screen door is an effective shield, except against Fume-Shrooms, which shoot straight through them, and Spikeweeds, which attack from below.
	Football Zombies are significantly faster than usual and incredibly durable. If turned by the Hypno-Shroom, this menace becomes a valuable ally.
	Originally, this zombie resembled Michael Jackson from his Thriller music video, but was later patched to look like a generic disco dancer. Any resemblance between Dancing Zombie and person living or dead is purely coincidental. This zombie will occasionally stop to dance, summoning Backup Dancer minions in the lanes around it.
	These zombies appear in sets of four whenever Dancing Zombie rocks out, two in the same lane as Dancing Zombie and one each in the lanes above and below him. If one is killed, Dancing Zombie will stop to summon another in its place.
	The innertube allows this zombie to float on water, letting him attack the waterbound lanes in the backyard pool.
	Snorkel zombies can swim underwater, and they cannot be attacked until they surface to attack plants.
	Balloon Zombies floats above the fray, immune to most attacks, but can be blown away by Blovers or brought down by Cacti.
	The Zomboni applies ice, steam and pressure to your plants, and will run right over any plants in its path. Its tires can be popped by Spikeweed, which sacrifices the Spikeweed but instantly destroys this dangerour attacker.
	These zombies appear in sets of four.
	Bungee Zombie attacks from above, descending from the sky to steal a plant or to drop a fellow zombie.
	Catapult Zombie operates heavy machinery and lobs basketballs at your plants.
	This Zombie digs tunnels underground to bypass your defences and appears on the left side of the lawn and starts moving right, attacking your plants from behind where most of them are vulnerable. Unlike all other zombies, he seems to have no interest in brains, and will keep walking right until he disappears off the screen or is destroyed.
	Dolphin Rider Zombies use dolphins to exploit weaknesses in your pool defence by jumping over the first plant he runs into.
	Gargantuar is a gigantic zombie with a highly destructive appetite, capable of defeating any plant with a single smash instead of stopping to eat them. He also throws a single Imp off of his back.
	Imps are tiny zombies thrown off of the back of a Gargantuar. They have significantly less health than even a standard zombie, and would be no threat at all except that Gargantuar is clever enough to throw him into the middle of your plants, not the end.
	This zombie carries an explosive surprise, and will kamikaze attack you unless he is killed or a Magnet-Shroom pulls the bomb out of his arms.
	Ladder Zombie places a ladder against obstacles like Wall-Nuts and climbs over them. Worse still, the ladder remains in place, allowing following zombies to bypass that obstacle too.
	Pogo Zombie hops to bypass your defences, but cannot jump over Tall-Nuts.
	Dr. Edgar Zomboss is the creator of the zombies, and he seeks to conquer your subdivision for some insane reason. He only appears in the final level, but when he does, get ready for a serious fight.
	Zombie Yeti is a rare and curious creature that runs away after a short while. You can only encounter this zombie when playing the adventure mode a second time.
	The Trash Can Zombie was added in the Xbox Live Arcade version of Plants Vs. Zombies. Trash Can Zombies use the trash cans for a shield so they will take more damage than a normal zombie. Trash Can Zombies can be found in the hard survival levels and well as Survival: Endless. The Trash Can Zombie is also a selectable unit in Vs. mode.
	The Target Zombies only appear in the Vs. Mode. In Vs. Mode the plants player must destroy three of the Target Zombies in order to win.

Almanac

The almanac is an in-game guide that keeps track of the plants and zombies the player encounters, providing both gameplay information and humorous biographies. Once unlocked, it can be accessed from the main menu, from the pause menu, and from the plant selection screen preceding each level. Plant entries are unlocked as soon as the player unlocks the Plant, but Zombie entries, while unlocked as soon as the player sees a Zombie, remain blank until the player has survived one level with that zombie in it.

Mini-Games

A number of mini-games are unlocked over the course of the Adventure Mode. These include a bowling variant in which the player rolls defensive structures at zombies instead of building plants, and a more challenging variant of the main game where the zombie characters have a lot of the offensive capabilities that the player possesses, such as projectile attacks.

The complete list of mini-games is:

• Zombotany 1 & 2
• Wall-nut bowling 1 & 2
• Slot Machine
• It's raining Seeds!
• Beghouled
• Invisi-ghoul
• Seeing Stars
• Zomiquarium
• Beghouled Twist
• Big Trouble, Little Zombie
• Portal Combat
• Column Like You See Them
• Bobsled Bonanza
• Zombie Nimble, Zombie Quick
• Whack-a-Zombie
• Last Stand
• Pogo Party
• Dr Zomboss's Revenge
• Heavy Weapon (Xbox Live Arcade exclusive)

Puzzle Mode

Puzzle Mode is unlocked after the completion of the Adventure Mode. Puzzle Mode include two different types of puzzles. The first requires the player to break open vases which can either include zombies or plants. The player must successfully break all of the vases and kill all of the zombies. There are 9 different finite levels and one endless. The second mode requires the player to play the role of the zombie and assault cardboard cutout plants. The objective is to break through the defences and consume 5 brains on the other side of the plants. This also includes 9 different finite levels and one endless.

Survival Mode

Survival mode sets the player up against multiple waves of zombies. The first five levels include each venue (Day, Night, Pool, Fog, Roof) and send five waves of zombies. The second set of five levels include the same five venues and ten waves of zombies. The final level provides an endless wave of zombies.

Store

The player can use coins collected during normal gameplay to purchase items. During the game's second chapter, a character named Crazy Dave will open his shop: Crazy Dave's Twiddydinkies. This allows the player to purchase extra items to make the game's demands a little easier on them. The most expensive items in the store are generally the extra seed slots, which allow the player to bring more types of seeds (and therefore have a bigger variety of plants) in a given level.

Other upgrades include upgraded versions of items that must be planted over existing plants; for example, planting an upgrade onto Repeater plants will cause them to fire four shots at a time instead of two. The cheapest upgrades in the store are generally temporary; for $200, a rake can be purchased for the next three levels that will appear randomly on the map and kill the first zombie to step on it.

Zen-Garden

Starts with two Marigold flowers that need to be tended. Additional plants are collected by playing mini-game, puzzle, and survival modes. All plants require regular watering and fertilizer to grow. These activities reward the player with small amounts of money and a larger amount if the plant reaches its full size. Once full-grown plants also require bug-spray and music to remain happy for a day. Doing so nets the player a fairly large reward. Apart from the standard Zen-Garden a mushroom garden, aquarium, and the tree of wisdom are also provided. The mushroom garden allows mushroom plant types to grow further and the aquarium does the same for aquatic plants. The tree of life grows as tree-food is placed upon it, handing out advice for every growth spurt.

Versions

Xbox 360 Version

The Xbox Live Arcade version was released on Sept 8, 2010 for 1,200 Microsoft Points. It features 50 levels alongside 21 mini-games and 7 different game modes. The retail version was made available on Sept 28, 2010 for $19.99 and includes two other games by PopCap: Zuma and Peggle.

iPhone Version

The iPhone version was released on the 15th of February 2010. Whilst the game is ultimately the same game with touchscreen controls, upon release it had several missing features such as the Zen garden, various mini games, and survival mode which would be unlocked upon completion. A summer/fall 2011 update has added in most of the missing modes, but requires in-game or micro-transaction currency to unlock mini games.

Game of the Year Edition

On August 10th 2010 a game of the year edition of Plants Vs. Zombies was made available on Steam and as an automatic update to users of the regular edition. It added 20 new Steam achievements, support for Mac users, Steam Cloud support and a interactive zombatar tool which allows users to create their own zombies.

Google Chrome Edition

On May 19, 2010 Google announced at their I/O conference that they would be launching an app store for their web browser, Chrome. A flash version of Plants vs. Zombies was confirmed to be among the launch titles priced at $3.99 according to preview screenshots. The store is expected to be open by the end of October 2010.

Windows Phone 7 Version

On May 18th, 2011 a version of Plants Vs. Zombies was released for the Windows Phone 7 platform. This version of Plants Vs. Zombies is essentially the original game with the inclusion of Xbox Live features such as leaderboards and achievements.

PlayStation 3 Version

On February 8th, 2011 the game was released on the PlayStation Network. This version is the same as the original game, including leaderboards and 12 trophies.

Nintendo DS Version

On January 18th, 2011 Plants Vs. Zombies was released on the DS. This version also includes the multi-player modes from the Xbox Live version and allows the player to play against another friend with a cartridge or to send a basic skirmish via Download Play. The game was also released on DSIWare on March 14th, 2011.

Soundtrack

The game's soundtrack was composed by Laura Shigihara.

PC System Requirements

• Operating System: Windows 2000 / XP / Vista / Mac OSX
• Processor: 1.2Ghz
• RAM Memory: 512 MB
• Graphics Card: 128MB of video memory, 16-bit or 32-bit colour quality
• DirectX: 8 or higher
• Hard Drive: 65 MB of free HD space
• Sound: DirectX compatible sound