Download Plants vs Zombies Battle for Neighborville for PC Archives

This guide will assist you in hacking Plants vs. Zombies.

Disclaimer

Plants vs. Zombies Wiki cannot be held responsible for a hack or change to one's copy of Plants vs. Zombies in which results in the event of corruption of the game or save files.

Take note hacking on iOS or Android by jailbreaking or rooting the device will make your device void from any support from Apple or Google, and such action cannot usually be undone. Jailbreak or root at your own risk.

Plants vs. Zombies Wiki cannot and will not support hacks that unlock paid content (such as premium plants, bundles, premium packs, or gems) for free in Plants vs. Zombies 2, its Chinese version, Plants vs. Zombies Heroes or hacks that attempt to cheat in Multiplayer in Plants vs. Zombies Heroes (like unlimited sun/brains/health, hacking to level up, or using a hacked deck). Any hacks present for these games on Wiki grounds will not be tolerated, punished by an indefinite block of the user who published it, and are to be removed immediately.

Hacking Plants vs. Zombies Heroes can lead to an account ban to your Facebook or EA account. Plants vs. Zombies Wiki cannot be held responsible for one hacking Plants vs. Zombies Heroes and getting banned for following a hack for the game present on Wiki space.

Before you start

• Create backup files, in case your hacks go wrong and crash Plants vs. Zombies. See how by going to the Backup guide.
• Download Cheat Engine
• Open both Cheat Engine and Plants vs. Zombies.
• Choose any game mode with Choose Your Seed and start the game.
• Go to Cheat Engine, click at the blinking computer icon.
• Choose "popcapgame1.exe" or "PlantsVsZombies.exe", depending on what your file is called.
• Start your hacking type below.

Please note that some of these hacks will not work on the Steam or Origin version of Plants vs. Zombies. This may not also work for modified Plants vs. Zombies that affect gameplay or more features. Examples include PvZ: Plus or etc,.

Plants vs. Zombies

Unlimited Sun

Requirements:

Steps:

Method 1

1. Type the number of sun you have in the value box.
2. Click "First Scan".
3. Go to Plants vs. Zombies and increase or decrease your sun (Example: Get some sun from your Sunflowers).
4. Go back to Cheat Engine, type the number of sun you have left in the value box.
5. Click "Next Scan"
6. Double-click at the address found at the left table.
7. Double-click at the number in the Value row in below table.
8. Type the amount of sun you want.
9. Click at the box in Active row.
10. COMPLETE.

Warning:

• Please delete the address at the below table after finishing your game or Plants vs. Zombies will not open for a certain time. Restart your computer if you forgot to do this.
• If there are two or more addresses, repeat step 3-5.

Method 2

1. Click "Memory View".
2. Right-click at the address and choose "Go to Address".
3. Type "00494445". Then click OK.
4. Make the Assembler Code "mov [edi+00005578],0001869F". And click OK.
5. There is a message. Click Yes.
6. DONE.

Your sun amount says 0 but it's actually unlimited.

Growing Sun/Money

Requirements:

• Cheat Engine
• Plants vs. Zombies

The steps:

1. Open any level and plant a Snow Pea (or any other plant, you just need to know it's number) on land.
2. Open Cheat Engine, click the glowing computer, and click popcapgame1 or PlantsVsZombies.exe. #Type 5 (a different value for other plants) in the value bar then click First Scan.
3. Dig up the Snow Pea (or the plant you planted) and plant a Wall-nut in the same square you planted the Snow Pea.
4. Write 3 in the value bar and click Next Scan.
5. Double click all the results.
6. Change the value of every address with 1 for the sun. Replace with 38 for growing money.

Unlimited Coins

This hack is for those players who lack coins.

Requirement:

• Cheat Engine
• Plants vs. Zombies

Steps:

1. Divide your coins amount by ten and enter it in the value box. (Example: if you have 38,960 coins, you should enter 3896 in the value bar.)
2. Click "First Scan".
3. Spend some of your coins on something in the shop. (Example: Buy Fertilizer.)
4. Divide the number of coins you left by ten and enter it in the value box. (Example: After buying fertilizer, you have 38,210 coins, so you should type 3821 in the value box.)
5. Click "Next Scan".
6. Click on the address shown on the left.
7. Double-click at the number in the value row in the below table.
8. Type how many coins do you want when the dialogue comes up.
9. DONE.

Warning: 

• Please delete the address at the below table after finishing game or Plants vs. Zombies will not open for a certain time. Restart your computer if you forgot to do this.
• If there are two or more addresses, repeat step one to five.

Zero Recharge

This hack is for the impatient hacker. This hack removes the recharge time for your seed packets, allowing you to plant them as often as you want.

Old PC version

Requirement:

• Cheat Engine
• Plants vs. Zombies

Steps:

1. Click "Memory View".
2. Right-click at the address and choose "Go to Address".
3. Type "0048728C".
4. Double-click at the colored text.
5. Change "01" to "200" behind the comma.
6. Click OK.
7. There is a message says the generated code is 7 byte long and the opcode is 4 bytes long, click yes to remove "nop" from "00487290", and "00487292".
8. Done.

Special: This hack will stay even after closing the Cheat Engine.

Game of the Year (GOTY) Edition

Method 1

Requirement:

• Cheat Engine
• Plants vs. Zombies

Steps:

1. Click "Memory View".
2. Right-click at the address and choose "Go to Address".
3. Type "00491E4C". If colored text isn't [edi+24], go to address 004958BC".
4. Double-click at the colored text.
5. Change "24" to "48". (Or change inc to add, add comma and 200 at the end of the code also works.)
6. Click OK.
7. DONE.

If typing in [edi+64], this will stop your plants to recharge.

Method 2

1. Click "Memory View".
2. Right click at the address and choose "Go to address".
3. Type "00491E55".
4. Double click on the colored text.
5. Change the address code to "nop". (Original text is "jle 00491E6B")
6. There is a message says "The generated code is 1 byte(s) long,but the selected opcode is 2 bytes long! Do you want to replace the incomplete opcode(s) with NOP's?"; click "Yes" to replace "00491E56" with "nop".
7. DONE.

Free Plants

Plants do not cost any sun. Take note that method only works on the GOTY Edition.

Requirements:

• Cheat Engine
• Plants vs. Zombies

Steps:

1. Click "Memory View".
2. Right click at the address and choose "Go to address".
3. Type "0041E846".
4. Double click on the colored text.
5. Change the address code to "nop".
6. There is a message says the generated code is one byte long and the opcode is two bytes long, click yes to replace " 0041E846 " to "nop".
7. DONE.

Automatic One-hit KO's

When a Projectile hits a Zombie, that Zombie dies instantly.

Click Yes if there is a message after changing an Assembly Code.

Requirements:

• Cheat Engine
• Plants vs. Zombies

Old PC version

Steps:

1. Click "Memory View".
2. Right-click at the address and choose "Go to Address".
3. Type "0053130F". Then click OK.
4. Double-click the selected Address
5. Change the selected Address' Assembler Code to "sub edi,[esp]".
6. Click OK.
7. Right-click at the address and choose "Go to Address".
8. Type "00531053". Then click OK.
9. Double-click the selected Address.
10. Change the selected Address' Assembler Code to "jmp 0053105e".
11. Click OK.
12. Right-click at the address and choose "Go to Address".
13. Type "0053105E". Then click OK.
14. Double-click the selected Address.
15. Change the selected Address' Assembler Code to "sub ecx,[ebp+000000d0]".
16. Click OK.
17. Right-click at the address and choose "Go to Address".
18. Type "00530CA1". Then click OK.
19. Double-click the selected Address.
20. Change the selected Address' Assembler Code to "mov [esi+000000dc],eax".
21. Click OK.
22. DONE.

NOTE: Shields or Headwear will require an extra hit in:

Wall-nut Bowling, if a Newspaper Zombie is hit with a Wall-nut, the newspaper will not disappear but if you use an Explode-o-nut or a Giant Wall-nut, it will die.

GOTY version

Steps:

1. Click "Memory View".
2. Right-click at the address and choose "Go to Address".
3. Type "00541CDA". Then click OK.
4. Double-click the selected Address.
5. Change the selected Address' Assembler Code to "sub ebp,ebp".
6. Click OK. (When given a prompt box "The generated code is 2 byte(s) long, but the selected opcode is 4 byte(s) long! Do you want to replace the incomplete opcode(s) with NOP's?", select "Yes".)
7. Right-click at the address and choose "Go to Address".
8. Type "00542223". Then click OK.
9. Double-click the selected Address.
10. Change the selected Address' Assembler Code to "jmp 0054222d".
11. Click OK.
12. Right-click at the address and choose "Go to Address".
13. Type "00542214". Then click OK.
14. Double-click the selected Address.
15. Change the selected Address' Assembler Code to "nop".
16. Click OK. (When prompted with "The generated code is 1 byte(s) long, but the selected opcode is 2 byte(s) long! Do you want to replace the incomplete opcode(s) with NOP's?", select "Yes".)
17. Right-click at the address and choose "Go to Address".
18. Type "0047169B". Then click OK.
19. Double-click the selected Address.
20. Change the selected Address' Assembler Code to "add [eax+40],edx".
21. Click OK.
22. DONE.

NOTES:

Free Zombies

1. Click "Memory View".
2. Right-click at the address and choose "Go to Address".
3. Type "0041E844". Then click OK.
4. Double-click the selected Address.
5. Change the selected Address' Assembler Code to "add esi,ebx".
6. Click OK.
7. DONE.

Plants die instantly

This makes the plants so weak, one bite is enough to kill them, making it good for a challenge or as a cheat for all the I, Zombie levels.

Click Yes if there is a message after changing an Assembly Code.

Old PC Version

1. Right-click at the address and choose "Go to Address".
2. Type "0052FCF0". Then click OK.
3. Double-click the selected Address.
4. Change the selected Address' Assembler Code to "mov [esi+40],00000000".
5. Click OK.
6. DONE.

GOTY Version

1. Right-click at the address and choose "Go to Address".
2. Type "00540680". Then click OK.
3. Double-click the selected Address.
4. Change the selected Address' Assembler Code to "mov [esi+40],00000000".
5. Click OK.
6. DONE.

Invincible zombies

This can make zombies unkillable. However, Chompers can kill them. This is a good cheat for I, Zombie levels.

1. Right-click at the address and choose "Go to Address".
2. Type "00541CDA". Then click OK.
3. Double-click the selected Address.
4. Change the selected Address' Assembler Code to "add ebp,[esp+20]".
5. Click OK.
6. Right-click at the address and choose "Go to Address".
7. Go to 00542223
8. Change the Assembler Code to jmp 0054222d
9. Click OK.
10. Right-click at the address and choose "Go to Address".
11. Go to 00542214
12. Change the Assembler Code to nop
13. Click OK.
14. DONE.

NOTE: This cheat is not recommended outside of the I, Zombie levels, as this cheat can make the other levels unbeatable (unless you have Chompers).

Invincible Plants

This hack makes your plants invulnerable to damage.

Requirement:

• Cheat Engine
• Plants vs. Zombies

Old PC Version

Steps:

1. Click "Memory View"
2. Right-click at the address and choose "Go to Address".
3. Type: "0052FCF0"
4. Right-click at the address.
5. Change the selected Address' Assembler Code to "nop".
6. Click OK.
7. DONE.

GOTY Verison

Steps:

1. Click "Memory View"
2. Right-click at the address and choose "Go to Address".
3. Type: "00540680"
4. Click OK.
5. Double-click the Opcode for the address highlighted. Change the selected Address' Assembler Code from "add dword ptr [esi+40], -04" to "nop".
6. Click OK. When prompted with a warning message, proceed.
7. DONE.

Special: This hack will remain even after closing the Cheat Engine.

WARNING: This only prevents damage from zombies eating plants. It provides no protection against other ways of damaging or destroying plants, such as from Zombonis, Catapult Zombies, Gargantuars and Dr. Zomboss. Also, Plants will still be vulnerable to Peashooter Zombie and Gatling Pea Zombie's peas. To make plants invulnerable to their peas, see below.

Unhittable Plants in ZomBotany

Plants cannot be hit by Peashooter Zombie and Gatling Pea Zombie's peas regardless of the plant's height. This applies to both mini-games ZomBotany 1 and 2.

NOTE: This was done in the GOTY Version.

Requirement:

• Cheat Engine
• Plants vs. Zombies

Steps:

1. Click "Memory View"
2. Right-click at the address and choose "Go to Address".
3. Type "00471686"
4. Right-click at the address.
5. Change the selected Address' Assembler Code to "jmp 004716fd".
6. Click OK.
7. DONE.

Instant Win in Beghouled

Your first match will make the trophy appear. This applies to both mini-games Beghouled and Twist.

Requirement:

• Cheat Engine
• Plants vs. Zombies

All versions

Steps:

1. Take the value 0.
2. Click first scan.
3. Make a few matches.
4. Take the new value after the matching is complete then click next scan.
   1. If there is more than one address, repeat step 4 until there is only 1 address.
5. Extract the address
6. Change the value to 75 then make a match.
7. DONE!

NOTE: If you do not want to repeat the procedure, fix the value before making a match.

GOTY Version

Steps:

1. Click "Memory View"
2. Right-click at the address and choose "Go to Address".
3. Type "00423E40".
4. Right-click at the address.
5. Change the selected Address' Assembler Code to "nop".
6. Click OK.
7. On the message, click yes.
8. COMPLETE.

Instant Zen Garden Plant Growth

This is a hack for those who don't want to wait for their Zen Garden plants to grow.

Requirement: Plants vs. Zombies only.

Steps:

1. Open Plants vs. Zombies.
2. Double-click at the time on your computer (located at the taskbar, below-right)
3. Choose the next day from the current day. (E.g., today is 15 so choose 16)
4. COMPLETE.

WARNING: If you change your computer's time too often, your computer's time will not change while it is off.

Special: If your plants grow in mature levels, if you choose the previous day, its level is still the same.

New Zen Garden Plants

This hack is also popular with people who are bored with their Zen Garden Plants.

Requirement:

• Zen Garden Editor (can be found at mediafire.com)
• Plants vs. Zombies

Steps:

1. Buy Marigold Sprout or obtain it from games.
2. Close Plants vs. Zombies
3. Go to Plants vs. Zombies file.
4. Go to userdata file.
5. Right click at the user1 or other name. (E.g.: If you're the second user, choose user2.)
6. Go to Open with and go to Browse...
7. Find ZGH.
8. Use ZGH by typing the alphabet based on the option above.
9. Press Enter.
10. Close the ZGH After using it.
11. Open Plants vs. Zombies back.
12. Go to Zen Garden
13. DONE.

NOTE:

• The color will not affect all plants (expect Imitated). Only Tall-nuts, Lily Pads and Peashooters will be affected.
• For plants option, There is no Peashooter. If you want to choose Peashooter, type 0

Unlock Canceled mini-games

Main article: Limbo Page.

Squirrel

Main article: Squirrel.

In this mini-game, the player must dig up Wall-nuts to find seven squirrels. However, there is a Zombie also in one of the Wall-nuts.

Art Challenge Wall-nut

Main article: Art Challenge Wall-nut.

Fill outlined space with Wall-nuts.

Sunny Day

Main article: Sunny Day.

Usual play, but huge sun (giving you 50 sun units) is falling instead of normal sun.

Unsodded

Main article: Unsodded.

Usual play, but the top and bottom lanes cannot be planted on (but zombies will still enter those lanes)

Big Time

Main article: Big Time.

Usual play, Sunflower, Wall-nut, and Marigold will become bigger.

Art Challenge Sunflower

Main article: Art Challenge Sunflower.

Fill outlined space with Starfruits, Wall-nuts, and Umbrella Leafs to create Sunflower's pattern.

Air Raid

Main article: Air Raid.

Destroy all Balloon Zombies in Fog stage.

Ice Level

Main article: Ice Level.

A game that takes place in the snow and Zombie Yeti would appear. Unfortunately, it is unplayable.

High Gravity

Main article: High Gravity.

Usual play, become harder to attack because of too much gravity.

Grave Danger

Main article: Grave Danger.

Usual play, graves will appear at any time.

Can You Dig It?

Main article: Can You Dig It?.

Dig up Wall-nuts and replace them with Peashooters.

Dark Stormy Night

Main article: Dark Stormy Night.

Usual play, unable to see in stormy weather (Same as Level 4-10, but the plants and zombies are different).

Bungee Blitz

Main article: Bungee Blitz.

Usual play (Like in Level 5-5).

Survival: Day (Endless)

Main article: Survival: Day (Endless).

Usual play (Same as in Survival: Pool (Endless))

Survival: Night (Endless)

Main article: Survival: Night (Endless).

Usual play (Same as in Survival: Pool (Endless))

Survival: Fog (Endless)

Main article: Survival: Fog (Endless).

Usual play (Same as in Survival: Pool (Endless))

Survival: Roof (Endless)

Main article: Survival: Roof (Endless).

Usual play (Same as in Survival: Pool (Endless))

Some of them are not Mini-games. There are:

Requirement:

• Cheat Engine
• Plants vs. Zombies

Make sure first that you're in the main menu.

For version 1.0.0.1051

Steps:

1. Go to Cheat Engine, click "Add Address Manually".
2. Type "42DF5D" in Address box.
3. Change type "4 Bytes" to "Byte".
4. Click OK.
5. Repeat the same step, but use "42DF5E" and "42DF5F". You don't need to change the type.
6. After three of them are entered into the table at the bottom of the cheat engine window, change all of their values into "144"
7. DONE.

GOTY version 1

Steps:

1. Go to Cheat Engine, click "Add Address Manually".
2. Type "430C80" in the Address box.
3. Change "4 Bytes" to "Byte"
4. Repeat the same step, but increase the last digit of "430C80" by one.
5. After three of them are entered into the table at the bottom of the cheat engine window, change all of their values into "144"
6. DONE.

GOTY version 2

Steps:

1. Open Cheat Engine, click "Access Memory."
2. Right-click anywhere, then say "Search For Address"
3. Type in the box "430C80 (42SF5D For non-GOTY)" and press Enter.
4. Select the topmost address, and select "replace with Address that does nothing"
5. Press OK.
6. DONE.

Special: This hack will remain after closing the Cheat Engine.

After that, click Mini-games, then click Limbo Page.

Note that sometimes with changed data it will crash so be sure you do this right.

Speed Hack

This speed hack will help to make games faster.

Requirement:

• Plants vs. Zombies
• Cheat Engine

Steps:

1. Click "Enable Speedhack"
2. Type 5 in the blank. (You may also move the slider all the way to the right so it says '5.00'.)
3. Click Apply. Note: An easy speed to still be able to operate the game is 1.5-4.
4. DONE.

Alternative Method:

• Use "Speed Gear" instead of Cheat Engine Speedhack.

Fertilizer, Bug Spray, Chocolate or Tree Food Hack

This will control the amount of Fertilizer, Bug Spray, Chocolate or Tree Food you have.

Requirement:

• Plants vs. Zombies
• Cheat Engine

Steps

• Find out how many Fertilizer/Bug Spray/Chocolate/Tree Food.
• Type the value on the value bar.
• Click First Scan.
• Go back to game, use/buy Fertilizer/Bug Spray/Chocolate/Tree Food. Just make sure to change the number.
• Type the number of Fertilizer/Bug Spray/Chocolate/Tree Food(+1000) you have now on the value bar.
• Double click on the result (if more than one result, repeat the last two steps).
• Change the value to the number of Fertilizer/Bug Spray/Chocolate/Tree Food(+1000) you want.
• Check the X in the Frozen row.
• Go back to your Zen Garden to check it out.
• COMPLETE.

Alternate Way (Memory View):

Note: This was done in the GOTY Version.

Requirement:

• Cheat Engine
• Plants vs. Zombies

Steps (Fertilizer):

• Click "Memory View".
• Right-click at the address and choose "Go to Address".
• Type "0052992B".
• Right-click at the address.
• Change the selected Address' Assembler Code to "nop".
• Click OK.
• On the message, click yes.
• COMPLETE.

Steps (Tree Food):

• Click "Memory View".
• Right-click at the address and choose "Go to Address".
• Type "0043018D".
• Right-click at the address.
• Change the selected Address' Assembler Code to "nop".
• Click OK.
• On the message, click yes.
• COMPLETE.

Steps (Bug Spray):

• Click "Memory View".
• Right-click at the address and choose "Go to Address".
• Type "00529A23".
• Right-click at the address.
• Change the selected Address' Assembler Code to "nop".
• Click OK.
• On the message, click yes.
• COMPLETE.

Steps (Chocolate):

• Click "Memory View".
• Right-click at the address and choose "Go to Address".
• Type "00529545".
• Right-click at the address.
• Change the selected Address' Assembler Code to "nop".
• Click OK.
• On the message, click yes.
• COMPLETE.

Tree of Wisdom Height Hack

• Buy Tree Food.
• Go to the Tree of Wisdom.
• Find the current height and click "First Scan".
• Give the Tree of Wisdom Food.
• Enter the new height in the Value Bar and click "Next Scan"
• Repeat last two steps until there is only one value in the list.
• Change size to whatever you want.
• COMPLETE.

I, Zombie hack

Please visit I, Zombie hack or I, Zombie hack/Mac.

How to plant Cattail on the Ground and others

Requirements:

• Cheat Engine
• Plants vs. Zombies

Steps:

• Open Plants vs. Zombies and Cheat Engine
• Put a Wall-nut in the ground
• Type "3" in Hex Box
• Click "First Scan"
• Dig the Wall-nut, put the Cherry Bomb on that place
• Type "2" in Hex Box
• Click "Next Scan"
• Repeat Step 2-7 until you get 1 address
• Add the address and change the value into "16"
• Then put the Cattail Seed on it.

Modify Art

Please visit Modify Plants vs. Zombies.

First Way

Requirements:

• Plants vs. Zombies
• Cheat Engine

Steps:

• Open both Programs in the Requirements list.
• Choose your seeds.
• Go to Plants vs. Zombies Cheats (if you wanted to change seed packets).
• Double-click on the plant's name in the top right dialog and change it to the plant you want.
• DONE!

Second Way

Requirements:

• Plants vs. Zombies
• Cheat Engine

Steps:

• Open both Programs in the Requirements list.
• Choose your Seeds
• Go to Plants vs Zombies Cheats
• Click on "Random Seeds" and click V2
• Go back to the game
• Use arrow Keys to shift the seeds.

Warning: If Plants vs. Zombies Cheats program is open, the arrow keys will not work on any other things. Close the program to allow arrow keys to work for other programs.

Modding Plants using Cheat Engine

Please visit the plant transformations.

Imitater of Upgrade Plants

This will hack all upgrade plants into Imitater of them.

Note: This hack requires a hex editor.

Requirements:

• Plants vs. Zombies
• Hex Editor

Steps:

• Open the game
• Choose any level
• Plant the upgrade plants as many as you want
• Pause then go to Main Menu
• Open Hex Editor
• Choose your save data level (e.g. if your level Survival: Endless, choose "game1_13.dat", but if you user 2, you should choose "game2_13")
• Find the code that looks like in the green area of this picture:

Plants vs. Zombies
The cover of the PC version of Plants vs. Zombies with a main zombie from the game.
Developer(s)	PopCap Games
Publisher(s)	PopCap Games
Designer(s)	George Fan
Artist(s)	Rich Werner
Composer(s)	Laura Shigihara
Series	Plants vs. Zombies
Engine	PopCap Games Framework
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows[1][2] OS X[1][2] iOS[3] Xbox 360[4] PlayStation 3 Nintendo DS DSiWare Bada Android Windows Phone PlayStation Vita BlackBerry Tablet OS[5] BlackBerry 10[6]
Release	Windows, OS X iOS Xbox Live Arcade Nintendo DS PlayStation Network NA: February 8, 2011 PAL: February 9, 2011 DSiWare NA: March 14, 2011 PAL: May 6, 2011 Android (Amazon AppStore) December 14, 2011 (Google Play) Windows Phone PlayStation Vita February 22, 2012[9] BlackBerry 10
Genre(s)	Tower defense, strategy
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Plants vs. Zombies is a tower defense and strategyvideo game developed and originally published by PopCap Games for Windows and OS X in May 2009, and ported to consoles, handhelds, mobile devices, and remastered versions for personal computers.

In Plants vs. Zombies, the player takes the role of a homeowner in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. To defend their home from zombies, some of which have unique abilities, the player uses plants that can fire projectiles at, or have other detrimental effects on, the horde of advancing zombies. The player collects "sun" with which defending plants can be bought. Zombies approach along several parallel lanes on the lawn, and the player must plan defenses in these lanes. If a zombie makes it to the house on any lane, the level is over.

Director George Fan was inspired to make the game after playing other tower defense titles and desiring to eliminate the typical strategies of sending advancing enemies through mazes of defenses, instead adapting the lane approach to remove this strategy.

The game received critical acclaim and was nominated for multiple Interactive Achievement Awards, alongside receiving praise for its musical score. It was followed by one direct sequel and another made for mobile devices, Plants vs. Zombies 2, released in 2013 for iOS and Android, and Plants vs. Zombies 3 respectively; two third-person shooters, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare and its sequel, and a digital collectible card game, Plants vs. Zombies Heroes. On October 18, 2019, Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville was also released. On February 25, 2020, Plants vs. Zombies 3 was soft-launched.

Gameplay[edit]

In Plants vs. Zombies, players place different types of plants and fungi, each with their own unique offensive or defensive capabilities, around their house, in order to stop a horde of zombies from reaching it. The playing field is divided into 5 to 6 horizontal lanes, each with lawnmowers, and with rare exceptions, a zombie will move towards the player's house along one lane only (the main exception is if it has bitten garlic, causing it to move to another lane). Planting costs "sun", which can be gathered for free (albeit slowly) during daytime levels and by planting certain plants or fungi which produce sun over time. Most plants can attack or defend against zombies in the lane they are planted in only. In later levels, players can purchase upgrades with different offensive and defensive abilities.

The game uses several different level types and layouts, each with their own gimmick. The game starts out in a front yard (standard) and progresses to nighttime levels (sun won't be able to be gathered for free), where the gameplay is more challenging without any replenishing sun unless specific plants are used. Other levels feature the backyard, with a pool added (in general more to cost). Later levels are nighttime pool levels (where fog fills the right half of the screen except when specific plants are used), a thunderstorm level in pitch black (except when illuminated by occasional flashes of lightning), and rooftop levels (where a slanted roof renders most offensive plants useless). On the final level, the player must face a huge robot operated by a zombie who takes the form of a mad scientist known as Dr. Zomboss. At set points throughout the game, the player is either warned through a letter by zombies or addressed by their neighbor, Crazy Dave, to prepare for an ambush, where the game takes on a bowling style, using Wall-nuts to bowl down zombies, or a modified version of regular levels, where random plant types come upon a conveyor belt, and the player can use the plants without spending sun.

The player starts with a limited number of seed pack types and seed pack slots that they can use during most levels. The number of slots can be increased through purchases with in-game money. At the start of a level, the player is shown the various types of zombies to expect and given the opportunity to select which seed packs to take into the level. Several plants are nocturnal, such as mushrooms, have a lower sunlight cost, and are ideal for nighttime levels. Certain plants are highly effective against specific types of zombies, such as the Magnet-shroom, which can remove metallic items from a zombie, such as helmets, buckets, ladders, and pogo sticks. Plants may be placed on any available square of lawn, on lily pads floating in a pool, or in flowerpots on a rooftop; these last two items may be chosen as a seed pack for their respective level types and deployed to increase the usable planting space.

The zombies also come in a number of types that have different attributes, in particular, speed, damage tolerance, and abilities. Zombies include those wearing makeshift armor, those who can jump or fly over plants, and a dancing zombie able to summon other zombies from the ground. At various points, the player will be inundated with a huge wave of zombies.

If a zombie reaches the end of a lane, a lawnmower will shoot forward and destroy all the zombies in that lane. However, if a zombie reaches the end of that same lane for a second time, it will reach the player's house. When this happens, the music changes and the other plants and zombies stop moving while that zombie enters the house. Crunching sounds will be heard, accompanied by a scream and a message saying "The Zombies ate your Brains!". The game will then end and display the Game Over dialog box along with an option to retry the level or return to the main menu at the upper-right side of the screen.

Game modes[edit]

The primary game mode is Adventure Mode in which the player can earn money to spend at an in-game store to buy new seed packets and other bonuses. There are also mini-games and puzzles. In the Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, and Nintendo DS versions, there is also a co-op mode, as well as 2 player mini-games and a Versus mode (only Versus mode in the Nintendo DS version & Xbox Live Arcade).

Adventure mode[edit]

The adventure mode consists of 5 different areas and 50 different area levels (each area contains 10 levels). They are shown with the area number first, followed by the level number (i.e. 1-10) in the game. Each level in this model has a certain amount of flags and one final wave. The adventure mode is the first game mode and is also the main mode. Mini-games are unlocked from here. Every 5th level will be a mini-game, such as whack-a-zombie, and every 10th level will be a conveyor level, where the player gets a conveyor belt that routinely gives more plants.

When and if the player plays through adventure a second time, Crazy Dave will pick 3 random plant that the player must use. These plants can be any plant except for any plants that are grayed out. For example, he would not pick plantern on roof levels.

Mini games[edit]

Mini-games are unlocked during the adventure mode and are mostly for fun. Some of the minigames are inspired by earlier PopCap games.

Puzzles[edit]

Puzzles consist of 18 levels from 2 different "modes", "Vasebreaker", where you break vases that either contains a plant seed or a zombie, and "I, Zombie", where you create zombies to destroy cardboard cutouts of plants. On iOS and Android versions, there is also a third mode called "Last Stand" that similar to the level with the same name from the Mini-Game Mode but with different zombies in each wave.

Survival[edit]

Survival is the second-largest game mode in Plants vs Zombies. It involves two difficulties as hard and normal and also has different areas. Each normal round has 5 flags and each hard round has 10 flags. It also has an endless streak level as the final level. Survival is the last game mode in the game itself.

There is also a page of canceled mini-games called the Limbo Page which can be accessed using the Cheat Engine.

Zen Garden[edit]

The game also features a Zen Garden, where players can care for plants they previously purchased from Crazy Dave's Twiddydinkies or occasionally dropped by zombies. Players can also buy other Zen Garden areas for different plants. Fertilizer, water, music, and bug spray are necessary for a plant to grow. Plants will grow only when the game has been running for enough time.

Development[edit]

Concept[edit]

Plants vs. Zombies director George Fan intended on balancing the game between a "gritty" game and a "sickeningly cute" game. Strong strategic elements were included to appeal to more experienced gamers, while keeping it simple to appeal to casual gamers, without needing too many tutorials. He was inspired to make it a tower defense game after both thinking of a more defense-oriented version of a previous title of his, Insaniquarium, and playing some Warcraft III tower defense mods.^[10] While he was looking at the towers in Warcraft III, he felt that plants would make good towers. He wanted to bring something new to the genre with Plants vs. Zombies, and he found common tower defense game play elements such as mazing and juggling^[11] to be too awkward, causing him to use the five- and six-lane set-ups that were used in the final version.^[12][13] The game was initially going to be called Weedlings, but as the tower defense concept took off and the personality of the game as a whole evolved, the title was later changed.^[14] Originally, enemies were going to be aliens from Insaniquarium, but while sketching concept art, Fan drew a sketch of what he considered the perfect zombie, and the theming was reworked for plants to be fending off zombies.^[15]

George Fan included elements from the trading card game Magic: The Gathering, which he had played with his girlfriend Laura Shigihara. Showing her how to customize their card decks inspired him to design Plants vs Zombies with seed packets rather than his original idea of using a conveyor belt that produced randomly selected plants, due to the greater complexity of the seed packet method. While the conveyor belt idea was dropped from the more common game mode, it remained as a special element in select levels.^[15] Another influence on Plants vs. Zombies besides Warcraft III and Insaniquarium was Tapper, crediting the use of five lanes to this game.^[12][13] Various members of PopCap Games contributed to the development of Plants vs. Zombies through an internal forum where they gave feedback.

Some of the characteristics that defined Insaniquarium influenced the development of Plants vs. Zombies. Players advance in a similar pace by receiving new plants. Also, the way plants are chosen at the beginning of each level was derived from the way pets are chosen in Insaniquarium.^[12] Other inspiration for the game's mechanics came from the film Swiss Family Robinson, especially where the family defends against pirates. This was the inspiration for the Potato Mine; Fan stated that it was satisfying to watch a zombie step on the mine, being defeated and covered in mashed potatoes.^[16]

Design[edit]

The team wanted to bring back the aliens from Insaniquarium, but in the end they were changed to zombies, which players could react to more easily because of how slowly they moved. George's favorite zombie was the Pole Vaulting Zombie, due to the hilarity involved when a player encounters it for the first time, using a specific example where a player tries to block it with the Wall-Nut, only to have the zombie jump over it.^[12][13][17]

During development, it was discovered that newcomers to the genre of real-time strategy may have a hard time learning the concept behind sun collection. So, the price of the income generating sunflowers was dropped from 100 to 50 to encourage players to buy them over the attacking peashooter. As a result, the balance between plants and zombies had to be restructured—a move that Fan said was definitely worth the effort.^[12] Programmers focused on Adventure mode for much of the first year of development. Upon finishing some items ahead of schedule, one of the programmers, Tod Semple, began working on ideas that would later be used for the minigame section. Some ideas for the puzzle mode section would later be tweaked and moved into adventure mode; "Vasebreaker" and "I, Zombie", for example, came from single-level minigame concepts. During testing, Fan found that minigame and puzzle modes seemed to detract from the focus on Adventure mode, so some of the additional modes and minigames were locked requiring advancement within adventure mode to become unlocked.^[13]

Fan stated that every game he worked on had only him designing the prototype, adding that he used to draw a lot before he made games, where he made pixel art. The final designs of the zombies and the first plants are similar to how they were initially. After searching for an artist, they discovered Rich Werner, who Fan thought clicked with what he intended for the design. He attributed the intrigue of the design to its animation scheme; Tod Semple suggested that they animate it in Flash and export it into the game. Fan worried that this would look like it was cut out from paper, and would resemble South Park too much, but was satisfied in the end, attributing this to Semple and Werner's talents.^[13]

Fan was most proud of the Tall-nut, Torchwood, and Cob Cannon plants. He explained that the Tall-nut has character, citing its "determined gaze" and how it sheds a single tear when hurt. Laura Shigihara could not stand to see this and protected it with a protective plant called a Pumpkin, which can protect plants inside it. He felt that the Torchwood – which gives Peashooters flaming ammunition – required players to think of how plants interacted with each other.^[12][13] Another favorite plant of Fan's was the Squash, due to how its name suggested its purpose; to squash things.^[17] A plant was proposed that is similar to the defensive item Umbrella Leaf, which would be planted above other plants to protect them from bungee zombies and catapult zombies. However, it was difficult to visualize their positions.^[13]

Cultural references[edit]

Plants vs. Zombies uses many cultural references in its names of stages and others. The gravestones' inscriptions ("Expired", "Ceased to Exist", "Just Resting", etc.) were taken from Monty Python's "Dead Parrot sketch". Three of the mini-games—"Zombiquarium", "Beghouled" and "Beghouled Twist"—take their names from two other PopCap games: Insaniquarium, Bejeweled and Bejeweled Twist respectively.^[13][18] Two levels in "vasebreaker" puzzles, "Scary Potter" and "Ace of Vase", take their names from Harry Potter and Ace of Base. Similarly, the "I, Zombie" (a reference to Isaac Asimov's "I, Robot") puzzles have levels called "Dead Zeppelin" (resembling Led Zeppelin) and "All your brainz r belong to us" (a play on the gaming meme "All your base are belong to us"). The name of the Torchwood plant is a reference to Doctor Who and its spin-off show Torchwood. Originally, the dancing zombie resembled Michael Jackson from the short film "Thriller".^[19] Though the Jackson-inspired zombie was present in the game before Jackson's death, the estate of Michael Jackson objected to its inclusion more than a year after his death; PopCap agreed to remove the Jackson-inspired zombie and replaced it with a more generic disco-dancing one for all future patches and releases of the game.^[20] A "disclaimer" in the game's almanac states "Any resemblance between Dancing Zombie and any persons living or dead is purely coincidental." Some Plants vs. Zombies advertisements parody controversial Evony ads, showing a drooling zombie instead of a voluptuous woman.^[21]

A planned name was Lawn of the Dead, a pun on the title of the George A. Romero zombie film Dawn of the Dead. For legal reasons it was changed to Plants vs. Zombies.^[17] It spent three years in development, and was released for the PC on May 5, 2009.^[13] Since it was released, it has been released for multiple platforms, including PlayStation 3's PlayStation Network, Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade digital distribution service, Nintendo DS, Android, and iOS.^[22][23]

Plants vs. Zombies itself was referenced in "The Passing" campaign of Valve's fellow zombie game Left 4 Dead 2, in which the player can stumble upon in-game graffiti attributed to the character of Crazy Dave.^[24] A five-level quest chain culminating in a quest entitled "Lawn of the Dead" in the massively multiplayer online gameWorld of Warcraft: Cataclysm is based on Plants vs. Zombies, using Warcraft elements to recreate the gameplay.^[25]Blizzard Entertainment had contacted PopCap about the inclusion, and Laura Shigihara was able to record some new music for the Warcraft version of the game.^[26]

Soundtrack[edit]

The soundtrack for Plants vs. Zombies was composed by Laura Shigihara. It borrows elements from the pop music genre as well as console chiptunes. Before the inception of Plants vs. Zombies, Director George Fan asked Laura if she would like to compose the music for his next title after following her for some years. She accepted, owing to his creativity. Shigihara described the music as "macabre, yet goofy". Using the night stage as an example, she used a combination of "Big Band" and swing beats with "several haunting and serious melodies". The songs "Loonboon" and "Brainiac Maniac" were written towards the end of production. The song "Ultimate Battle" also appears in the game Melolune. She stated that these were reactionary songs that she wrote to fit the feel of the game after having played through it twice. She tried to make the game have a Danny Elfman feel to it, while mixing in melodic tunes and funky beats. She describes a song early in the game, which uses marching band percussion and swing beats. She described another one which used techno beats with organic sounds.^[27] Shigihara also composed and performed the music video shown during the credits of the game, titled "Zombies on Your Lawn".^[28][29]

Reception[edit]

Plants vs. Zombies has received critical acclaim, garnering an aggregate score of 87/100 from Metacritic and an 88% from GameRankings.^[31][30]IGN editor Andy J Kolozsy commented that it featured a lot more content than other games in the genre, as well as praising its addictive nature.^[39] However, the DS version was criticised for its lower quality graphics and expensive price point.^[41]GameSpot editor Chris Watters praised the design of the plants and zombies, as well as the visuals and its overall value. However, he found fault in the learning curve.^[42]1UP.com editor Alice Liang found the game enjoyable, commenting that the lawnmowers that protect the left side of the screen strikes a good balance between ease-of-use and in-depth game play.^[18]Edge's review praised PopCap Games for adding an imaginative touch to every little detail of the game. He also credited them for taking the tower defense genre and making it their own.^[43]

Laura Shigihara's music video also received praise, with Hatfield attributing his interest in the game to the video.^[39] Liang also praised the song, asking how anyone could not want Plants vs. Zombies after seeing the video.^[18]

To date, Plants vs. Zombies is the fastest-selling video game created by PopCap Games.^[44]Plants vs. Zombies director George Fan estimated that half of the game's sales are from hardcore gamers.^[45] According to PopCap, the iOS release of Plants vs. Zombies sold more than 300,000 copies in the first nine days it was available on the App Store, generating more than $1M in gross sales, and considered it "the top-grossing iPhone launch".^[46]

Awards[edit]

Plants vs. Zombies has been nominated for the "Casual Game of the Year" and "Outstanding Achievement in Game Design" Interactive Achievement Awards from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences.^[47] The game received nominations in "Best Game Design", "Innovation", and "Best Download Game" for the Game Developers Choice Awards.^[48] Plants vs Zombies was picked by Gamezebo as one of the 'Best games of 2009'.^[49]

Legacy[edit]

Plants vs. Zombies Idaho lottery scratch ticket from late 2015, early 2016

A version of the game was added in patch 4.0.3a of World of Warcraft which used similar mechanics as an homage to the popularity of the game. A reward of a non-combat pet singing sunflower is given to those who can beat the minigame.^[50] The success of the game has led to the creation of Plants vs. Zombies lottery tickets.^[51][52] Since the game was partially inspired by the Magic: The Gathering card game, a Magic card called Grave Bramble has been released in the Innistrad expansion. It is a Plant with the Protection from Zombies ability.^[53]Zen Pinball 2 for Wii U, PlayStation 3 and PS Vita and Pinball FX 2 on Xbox 360 feature a Plants vs. Zombies pinball table.^[54]

Billie Eilish's "Bad Guy" includes a riff that is based on the main theme of Plants vs. Zombies.^[55]

Sequels and spin-offs[edit]

In late 2012, PopCap announced that they were working on a sequel to Plants vs. Zombies. However, the game's status was in doubt shortly after the announcement when the company went through a period of layoffs, which included series creator George Fan. Plants vs. Zombies 2 released August 15, 2013, as a free-to-play title, and was a time-limited exclusive title for iOS systems before moving to Android later that year.^[56]

In May 2013, the Facebook game Plants vs. Zombies Adventures was released by developer PopCap Games and publisher Electronic Arts. The gameplay is a tower defense game, players no longer had to defend a single home in front of the zombie horde, and could travel to new locations and engage with new characters. On July 14, 2014, it was announced that Plants vs. Zombies Adventures would close down on October 12, 2014.^[57] The Facebook game was removed by November 2014.

In 2014, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare, a multiplayer third-person shooter based on Plants vs. Zombies, was released for Xbox One, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4. On May 5, 2015, it was revealed by Electronic Arts that a new Plants vs. Zombies game would be released in Q1 2016. EA CEO Andrew Wilson said that the upcoming game would be a follow-up to Garden Warfare and that it would be a bigger and bolder console experience.^[58]

In June 2015, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 was announced at Microsoft's E3 press conference by Peter Moore. It was made available on the market on February 23, 2016.^[59][60]

Since 2013, Dark Horse Comics published an ongoing series of official tie-in comics to the games in the Plants Vs. Zombies series, starring a boy named Nate and Crazy Dave's niece, Patrice. The comic's stories are written by Paul Tobin and drawn by various of artists for some stories. The books are available in paper form and in a digital format in the Plants Vs. Zombies: Comics app, available of iOS and Android devices.^[61]

On March 10, 2016, PopCap revealed Plants vs. Zombies Heroes, which is a card game in the series. It was soft released to certain countries on the same day, and was fully released internationally on October 18, 2016.^[62]

In early April 2019, a Chinese article confirmed that a third title in the Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare series would be coming out as 24 playtesters were invited to EA to test the game out. In this article, 20 classes are available, 10 for each side. It was also confirmed Xbox would support split-screen, though other consoles are not confirmed to have this feature.^[63] On September 4, 2019, EA announced the game under the title Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville. It was released at an early access state that same date, with a full release set for October 18, 2019.^[64]

In July 2019, EA announced Plants vs. Zombies 3, another free-to-play mobile title in the series. It was launched in a pre-alpha state for Android in July 2019^[65][66] and soft launched in February 2020.

See also[edit]

References[edit]