Plants vs. Zombies marches onto the tabletop in October
Mantic Games is turning PopCap's lane-defending classic into a one-to-four player co-op card game, with a Kickstarter campaign opening on 14 October and a miniature-stuffed Deluxe Edition alongside it.
PopCap's Plants vs. Zombies is the latest video game to be dragged, blinking, into the daylight of a dining table. Mantic Games is adapting the lane-defending tower-defence classic into a one-to-four player co-operative board game, and the Kickstarter campaign opens on 14 October.
Mantic is not a newcomer to this sort of thing. The Nottingham studio has already converted Worms, Halo, Hellboy, The Walking Dead and Invincible into cardboard and plastic, so it knows the difference between a licensed cash-grab and a game people will still be playing in five years. Its pitch for this one is a "fast-paced co-op tabletop game that captures the comedy and chaos of the series".
What you actually do
It is a card game, and the structure should feel familiar to anyone who has lost an afternoon to the original. Plant cards do the work you would expect: the Peashooter fires down a lane, the Cherry Bomb explodes, the Sunflower pays for everything. Tool cards exist to tidy up mistakes, including a shovel that reorganises your garden's defences and a lawnmower that clears an entire lane of zombies at once.
The interesting wrinkle is on the other side of the board. Zombie cards are played on the player's behalf, and they all move at once, with the cards simultaneously revealing the paths the shuffling horde will take. That turns each round into a shared, slightly panicked read of the board rather than a leisurely puzzle — and if a single zombie reaches the house, the team loses.
Levels escalate, new plants, zombies and challenges unlock as you go, and each stage throws a fresh horde at your defences. Mantic is also preparing a Deluxe Edition with pre-assembled miniatures of "fan-favourite Plants and Zombies", plus a standalone Night Edition expansion adding more of everything.
Where the video game series stands
The timing makes sense. Plants vs. Zombies Replanted, last year's remake of the original game, was well received, while Plants vs. Zombies 3 — the free-to-play mobile entry that has been soft-launched, retooled and soft-launched again — remains the cautionary tale of the franchise. A tabletop spin-off sidesteps the live-service treadmill entirely, which is probably the smartest thing about it.
Our opinion
Board game adaptations of mobile games are usually a licence looking for a shelf, but the simultaneous zombie-card mechanic is a genuine design idea rather than a logo on a box, and Mantic has the track record to make a physical version feel like more than a souvenir. Our advice is the same as for every Kickstarter: back it for the game you have read the rules for, not the stretch goals you have imagined, and be patient if the miniatures slip. If the campaign turns into a wall of exclusives and plastic scenery, walk away — the game already works with cards.