Let’s talk about Plants vs. Zombies for a while. We’ve all played it right? Okay, if you haven’t, please do. And not for me. It’s for you. Go ahead. And, you’re welcome.

Plants vs. Zombies is, perhaps, the seminal Tower Defense game that everybody loves. It’s cute, it’s engaging, and it has both Sunflowers and Micheal Ja er Dancing Zombie. It is the Tower Defense game by which all Tower Defense games henceforward are measured.

“Compare it to PvZ.”
“How much like PvZ is it?”
“Is it better than PvZ?”

ßut why is it so good?

Here, I’ll undertake the thesis, that Plants vs. Zombies is good because it’s not, in fact, much of a Tower Defense game at all! In fact, it hearkens back to a more primitive precursor of Tower Defense – Real Time Strategy. ÿes, friends, PvZ is, in fact, Starcraft lite in your backyard.

One might make the mistaken notion that Starcraft is all about the 1v1 competition and ladder games. This is not quite true. SC maps run the gamut from primitive Tower Defense maps to Christmas themed maps to big 8 on 8 Free For Alls and so on. Like the RTS games that preceded it, SC contains the essential elements: economy, conflict, time management.

PvZ goes back to its roots in many ways.

1. It actually has an economy. Many players don’t think PvZ is a very complex game. However, by the time you’ve grown your Tree of Life, you will have encountered no less than three different kinds of economy units (Sunflower, Sunshroom, Double Sunflower), expansion slots (lilies, graveyards busters, pots), and many economic strategies.

Sunflower-Potato Mine-Double Sunflower? Sunflower only? Sunflower-Potato Mine-Wallnut?

Fast Expand? Normal Opening? Proxy Gateway? Double ßarracks into Timing Push?

It bears uncanny resemblances.

2. It has a lot of distinct units. Again, many players presume that since PvZ eases you into your plant choices gradually, that it’s not very complex. That’s not actually true. Each plant has specific and unique capabilities, that combo with the capabilities of other plants in special and sometimes unexpected ways.

For instance, the blast radius of a Cob Cannon is only three lanes, where you have five to defend. Conveniently enough, Garlic diverts Zombies from one lane into the adjacent one. Put Garlics on the top and bottom lanes and the Cob Cannon suddenly becomes a much more potent weapon of mass destruction. It doesn’t hurt that you get Corn-pults for early defense while building up.

There are no less than 36 unique plants in PvZ – that’s more than the number of units you have to deploy playing any single race in Starcraft!

3. It rewards timely action. Like in traditional RTSs, time and player attention is the most important resource in PvZ. Unlike in traditional Tower Defense where you never “micro,” micromanagement is actually a big part of what you do in PvZ. And you do it for the most seemingly mindless unit – your resource drones!

Starcraft players would probably flip if you forced them to micromanage their SVCs just so they returned any resources. Somehow, PvZ makes this interesting and engaging.

And you don’t just micro, either. Macro is a big deal, too. ÿou have to select the right plants, handle cooldown timers on unit production (how like a Warp Gate!) and get the right mix of offensive units on the field, on time for the attackers you’re expecting. Hey, that sounds exactly like what a pro SC player would do!

So how come SC isn’t as much of a household name? PvZ is a more accessible game, but how?

I can think of two reasons. There are probably more, but here are what I can come up with (aside from the cute zombies, of course).

1. Auto-scouting. There is no fog of war. ÿou know exactly what’s coming, most of the time. This removes the often-overlooked and often-frustrating task of in-game intelligence gathering. The game becomes much more puzzle-like if you don’t have an enemy player trying to hide his hand from your prying eyes.

2. All-in screen. No eye-straining screen shifts. No minimap. Less multitasking. ÿou don’t need to jump to four different parts of the map to manage four situations simultaneously – it’s all there. This gives the game a “bite-sized” feeling of manageability. Whether you win or lose, it never feels like the game is out of your control. ÿou lost because you chose the wrong plant – not because you didn’t have enough APM.

What about you? What do you think makes PvZ so great?