I wasn't expecting much when I saw a game titled Plants vs. Zombies. In fact, Victoria skipped it when she first saw the PC version on Reflexive.

However, the Mac version came out today, and when I saw that it was made by PopCap (noted for their hit games Bejewelled and Zuma, among others), I decided to give it a whirl.

Boy, was I surprised at how fun this game is! PopCap has basically taken a tower-defense style game and simplified the strategy elements to create a simple little action/strategy game.

Basically, the zombies are invading your front yard. Your job is to plant various types of flowers and plants to fend them off. Sunflowers and sun-shrooms produce sunlight, which you can collect to "purchase" other plants to add to your yard. Some plants shoot spores, some plants like the venus flytrap eat the zombies that stumble into them, and other plants block the zombies' path or explode on contact. With each new level, you unlock a new type of plant that you can add to your arsenal to defend your property.



It's a lot of fun planning your defenses, setting it up, and watching your plants battle the zombies while you monitor the battle and adjust your tactics. The animation is entertaining, and the mini-games that occur every 5-6 levels keeps things fresh and interesting.

Initially I rated this as Family-Friendly, but there is a level of cartoon violence to this game that made me change the rating to Teen. As your plants do damage to the zombies, parts of them fall off and eventually they lose their heads. There's no blood or gore, but it may be too grotesque for smaller kids. Also, if a zombie makes it to the end of your yard, there is a lawnmower there to greet them - there is no gratuitous violence when it mows them down (the zombie just falls to pieces), but the idea alone is rather sick. Essentially, the lawnmower saves you from one zombie making it to the end of your yard, but then the mower is gone and you don't want to let any other zombies get past your defenses or you lose.

If the cartoon violence doesn't bother you, then you'll likely find this to be a fun little game. Give it a try!