Few casual game developers can compete with the kind of games put out by PopCap, with titles like Peggle, Bejewelled, Zuma consistently garnering acclaim. Bejewelled, the first title from the developer has even found a place in the Computer Gaming World Hall of Fame. Far from resting on their laurels though, the company’s been working hard churning out yet more winning titles and the forerunner of these is Plants Vs Zombies (PVZ).

PVZ is a desktop tower defence game with more twists than a corkscrew. The aim of the game is to defend your lawn, and consequently your house and yourself from a hungry horde of brain-loving zombies. To fight them, you have in your arsenal a whole bunch of unusual plants – pea-shooting pods, sunflowers that produce sun to “fuel” your other plants, exploding spuds, mushrooms and wall-nuts that work as barricades to name just a few. Your job is to plant these in a way that most effectively defends your lawn. The levels of strategy keep changing and getting more complex as you encounter new types of zombies, from the regular garden-variety ones to quarterback zombies and even a Michael Jackson zombie that summons back-up zombie dancers. As you complete each level you are rewarded additional plants or further levels are unlocked in the arcade and puzzle versions, and you have to fight the zombies in darkness, at night, through fog and even in a swimming pool.

PVZ features fantastic graphics and being a casual game, all the gameplay involves is a click of the mouse. But look beyond the cutesy, gigglelicious graphics and you have a game that grows increasingly complex and engaging, something you don’t realise till it pulls you in completely and decimates your productivity. Ridiculously addictive, you’ll find yourself playing even after your mouse arm threatens to fall off. Highly recommended.