Plants vs. Zombies sounds like a silly idea – seriously? Plants? Fighting zombies? Really? However, this real-time tower defense game from PopCap, despite having an absurd premise, is quite simply one of the single most enjoyable titles available today, and it is appropriate for all ages. It’s a happy game, filled with bright colors, cute plants and fun music.

Plants vs. Zombies is fundamentally simple – place a variety of plants with various abilities and purposes to defeat advancing zombies who want to break into your house and eat your brains. As players progress through the game, they earn new plants which require more strategic thinking. As players complete sets of levels, new level designs open up which require different tactics. Once a player completes all of the levels, they can play through the game again, this time with the game requiring that certain plants be used on a level to increase the difficulty. Plants vs. Zombies also provides a number of other game modes and mini-games to provide even greater value for players. In short, the game is nearly endlessly re-playable and continues to provide a fun gaming experience.

Accessibility Issues / Concerns

For the most part, Plants vs. Zombies is reasonably accessible. Oddly enough, the Xbox version of the game is slightly more accessible than the PC version because the PC version requires clicking the mouse on items to pick them up. The Xbox version allows players to pick items up simply by moving the cursor over them.

The game does not include subtitles because all instruction is displayed on the screen. Ambient chatter can provide audio cues, but it is not essential and does not impede a player’s enjoyment of the game, nor does it make the game more difficult.

Players with a form of color blindness should not encounter problems with Plants vs. Zombies. The game does not require players to distinguish between colors in gameplay.

Gamers with precision concerns may find Plants vs. Zombies somewhat difficult because it requires players to place plants quickly, and it isn’t difficult to accidentally place a plant in an unintended location. Players can remove plants, but doing so destroys them. The game doesn’t allow players to provide commands while the game is paused, so players with precision concerns may find the game stressful when waves of zombies are approaching.

Gamers with use of only one hand may experience some difficulties with the controller scheme. Plants vs. Zombies uses the left stick to control the cursor, while planting seeds is controlled by the A button. There are no remapping or alternate configuration options.

Finally, Plants vs. Zombies offers an option to save when leaving a level, even in the middle of a level. It’s not quite saving on demand, but the game’s autosave feature saves after completing a level, exiting out of a game mode or upgrading equipment at the store.


At A Glance

Precision: Recommend rating of 7 out of 10.
Players can accidentally place a plant in the wrong location. While the game allows players to remove plants, those plants are destroyed and cannot be placed elsewhere.

Deaf Gamers: Recommend rating of 10 out of 10.
The few ambient chatter elements that are present are not subtitled, but the lack of subtitling for ambient chatter does not make the game more difficult.

One-handed: Recommend rating of 5 out of 10.
The left stick controls cursor motion, while planting seeds uses the A button. No alternate configurations or remapping options are available.

Subtitled: Recommend rating of 10 out of 10.
No voice over is present. As such, no subtitles are needed.

Color Blind: Recommend rating of 10 out of 10.
The game does not rely on colors in gameplay.

Checkpoint / Save System: The game autosaves after successfully completing a level or exiting game modes. The game will also offer the player an option to save in a player leaves the game in the middle of a level.