Plants vs. Zombies: The Board Game Prepares to Launch on Kickstarter

PopCap's popular, long-running PvE video game series Plants vs. Zombies is getting the tabletop board game treatment, courtesy of Mantic Games. The project is set to launch on Kickstarter on October 14.

Mantic, who has previously adapted numerous IPs to tabletop including Worms, Halo, Hellboy, The Walking Dead, and Invincible, describes the adaptation as "a fast-paced co-op tabletop game that captures the comedy and chaos of the series." It's for 1-4 players (just like the video games) in which "players work together to overcome a series of increasingly challenging levels, each featuring unique setups, objectives, and Zombie hordes to defeat. It'll be a card-based game where cards have unique effects when played. There will be Plant cards, with examples given of firing off the Peashooter plants or exploding Cherry Bombs. These will be joined by Tool cards like a shovel that can reorganize your garden's defenses or a lawnmower that can cut down a lane of zombies.

Playing Zombie cards, meanwhile, moves them closer to your home while simultaneously showing players the paths they'll move along, presumably allowing you to best prepare your defenses. You have to play all of your Zombie cards simultaneously, which should add to the tension and chaos of each game.

There will be new Plants, Zombies, and challenges to unlock along the way, with each new level pitting players against a fresh Zombie horde. Players lose if any Zombies reach the house. Mantic is preparing a Deluxe Edition that includes pre-assembled miniatures of "fan-favorite Plants and Zombies" along with a Night Edition standalone expansion that includes more Plants, Zombies, and other content.

The last Plants vs. Zombies game was last years Plants vs. Zombies Replanted, a remake of the original that we thought was good . The last new entry in the series was 2024's Plants vs. Zombies 3, a free-to-play mobile game that's relaunched multiple times .

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's executive editor of previews and host of IGN's weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked , and a co-host of Next-Gen Console Watch . He's a North Jersey guy, so it's "Taylor ham," not "pork roll." Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan .