Plants v. Zombies

My house, like many others, has been invaded by this little gem of a game that sets life against unlife. Though small and simple, the game upends stereotypes and provokes thought.

Like many good games, PvZ is a violent game. Massively violent. Incredibly destructive. Plants get eaten alive, crushed, kidnapped. The undead get frozen, burned, shot, eaten, exploded, pierced. As the Zombies die, they lose their limbs and then their heads. Yet the game seems completely appropriate for kids. Why?

Though single-player, PvZ is a social game. Yesterday, there were four boys at my house, age 4-8, all crowded around the computer, taking turns at PvZ. When the player unleashed a killer move, they all screamed and jumped for joy. "Jalapeno!!!!" Games are not like TV. If I had them watch a movie, they would slump down quietly on the couch, like, well, like zombies.

PvZ instantiates a fantasy world. Last week, after adults pried the boys away from the computer, said boys invented a RL PvZ game, where one was a Zombie, two were Pea Shooters, and one was the Jalapeno. 

Like many good games, PvZ makes a gendered statement. All the Zombies are male. Most of the plants are male. Some female plants are helper-types, such as the Marigold that creates money. Others, though, are fighters, such as Cactus. Sunflower is the star of the game, taking the lead role in the music video during the credits. She is the main source of power on the side of Life.

PvZ has a dual-currency economy. One currency is Suns, produced by Sunflower (and to a lesser extent, Sunshroom). You use Suns to buy new plants. Coins also appear, dropped at first by Zombies and as level rewards, later by Marigold. Coins are used to buy power-ups between levels. 

PvZ has a coherent ethos that is symbolically consistent with reality. Animated corpses are a universal evil, and living things are a universal good, in RL as in PvZ. RL agriculture is indeed a positive feedback loop, and it does indeed require sun. In RL as in PvZ, disparate weak elements can be combined into powerful teams. The game makes sense.

PvZ is a fine tool for teaching tactical thought. It has been fascinating watching my 4-year-old gradually learn to put tank-like Wallnut by the Zombie entrance points, to hold them at bay, while glass-jawed Pea Shooter plucks away from the middle. At the rear, Sunflower, important but militarily useless, pumps out her sustaining Sun power, which is then used to replace fallen Pea Shooters and Wallnuts. Mind, I didn't teach him any of this. He started with Wallnuts in the back to protect his house, too few Sunflowers, and Pea Shooters up front. The game taught him that the pieces had to be put together in a different way.

If I had to choose a poster child for interactive entertainment, PvZ would be it.

Comments

[Alex V]

1.

Lovely write-up. Even reading about the game gives me a warm glow, or at least a memory of one :).

[Alex V]

2.

Lovely write-up. Even reading about the game gives me a warm glow, or at least a memory of one :).

[J.D. Fielder]

3.

Indeed, my kids love PvZ!

But on the evil side, every time they win the game the odd yet strangly witty endgame song gets caught in my head for a few hours. :-P

[digitizing]

4.

I admire the valuable information you offer in your articles.I enjoying reading your post. Even reading about the game gives me a warm glow

[thoreau]

5.

"If I had them watch a movie, they would slump down quietly on the couch, like, well, like zombies."

If you watch a movie multiple times (like when you play a game) behaviors similar to game playing emerge.

One only needs to watch Office Space with a group of friends for the 20x time or go to a midnight showing of Rocky Horror to understand this.

[Edward Castronova]

6.

@Thoreau, I wonder if anyone has tested this idea in a lab setting? That would be interesting, wouldn't it.

I have noticed that kids who have seen a movie a million times will loudly narrate what they judge to be the good parts to a new kid or adult who is watching for the first time. OTOH, it never gets quite to the level of game co-playing, where the boys are jumping and screaming.

Also, my experience is all about boys because that's mostly who we have in our neighborhood. (Something in the water? Perhaps. 12 kids, 10 boys.) I don't know how groups of girls react to PvZ. Or movies, for that matter. Anyone have an insight?

[makgunce]

7.

thanks a lot for posting this article
i loved it