Collection Plants vs Zombies

PopCap released Plants vs Zombies in 2009 and accidentally made one of the most polished tower defence games ever built. It's a game about a lawn. It has no business being this good.

Everything is legible at a glance, which is the real achievement. A cone on a zombie's head means it takes more hits. A bucket means considerably more. A pole means it's about to jump your first row of defences and ruin your afternoon. You never need a tutorial for any of it - the visual design explains itself.

The plants get the same treatment. Sunflowers make resources, peashooters shoot, walnuts absorb punishment, and cherry bombs solve arguments. Combining them into a working lawn is genuinely strategic, dressed up as something cheerful enough for a child to play.

And then there's the soundtrack, which no one who played it has managed to forget. Laura Shigihara's zombie song is doing a lot of quiet cultural work.

This collection covers plants, zombies and their accessories. Put a peashooter on your pointer and defend the desktop.