Plants vs. Zombies

1001 Video Games

Plants vs. Zombies appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Advertisement

One of the online banner advertisements of the game launched in July 2009 is a spoof of the way the browser game Evony was advertised. An overview of the development regarding the original Evony advertising can be found here, while the PopCap spoof can be viewed here.

Bonus games

The retail PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions, besides including the game itself, also include two other PopCap titles as a bonus. The PS3 release includes Peggle and Heavy Weapon, while the Xbox 360 version keeps Peggle and replaces Heavy Weapon with Zuma.

Dancing Zombie

The so-called Dancing Zombie, a homage to singer Michael Jackson, had to be removed after Jackson's death. He was replaced with a seventies disco zombie.

Development

Plants vs. Zombies began life as a sequel to the company's previously released Insaniquarium; an action game in which players defend an aquarium of fish against invading aliens. According to the game's creator, George Fan, "We knew we wanted to significantly change up the gameplay for the sequel. [...] During that time I was also playing a lot of tower defense games in Warcraft III, and realized that they had this innate appeal that made me think of fond childhood memories like building forts out of sofa cushions and watching Swiss Family Robinson. I really wanted to capture that appeal, and once I realized that plants and zombies made a much better theme for this game than fish and aliens, I shifted from creating a sequel into creating a whole new game."

Awards

• 1UP
  • 2009 - Best Strategy Game (Editors' Choice)
  • 2009 - Best Strategy Game (Readers' Choice)
• 4Players
  • 2009 – #3 Best Strategy Game of the Year
  • 2009 – #3 Most Humorous Game of the Year
  • 2010 – Best Xbox Live Arcade Game of the Year
• AceGamez
  • 2009 - Best Strategy Game
• GameShark
  • 2009 - Best Casual Game
• Gamespy
  • 2009 - PC Game of the Year
  • 2009 - Best Use of a Cliched Concept
  • 2011 – #13 Top PC Game of the 2000s
• Machinima
  • 2009 - Best Downloadable Game
• Yahoo
  • 2009 - Best Casual Game

Information also contributed by Agent 5, Big John WV and M4R14N0.