Brain Busters


 * For a similar version in Plants vs. Zombies, see Mini-games.

"I've named them Brain Busters."

- Penny

"Brain busting? Very dangerous. You go first."

- Crazy Dave

Brain Busters are puzzle levels of Plants vs. Zombies 2: It's About Time in which the player faces levels that are more challenging than usual. On the map, they are marked with striped icons rather than solid colored like regular levels. Some Brain Busters return from the old game's Mini Games, but most of them are new. They are somewhat similar to the mini-games and puzzles of the original Plants vs. Zombies.

Save Our Seeds
Keys needed (versions 1.6 and under): four (three in Ancient Egypt)

In this Brain Buster, the player has to stop the zombies from eating the endangered plants on the yellow and black striped tiles. Each world usually has a certain plant, but some worlds have different levels with different plants.

Played on Ancient Egypt - Days 15 and 20, Pirate Seas - Days 16 and 24, Wild West - Days 16 and 24, Far Future - Days 15 and 20, Dark Ages - Nights 12 and 19, and also three Piñata Parties.

Locked and Loaded
Keys needed (versions 1.6 and under): four (five in Wild West)

In this Brain Buster, the player has to use the plants pre-selected by Crazy Dave. Otherwise, you would have risked distorting reality.

Played on Ancient Egypt - Days 11 and 21, Pirate Seas - Days 5 and 18, Wild Wests - Day 9 and 22, Far Future - Days 6 and 17, and Dark Ages - Nights 8 and 18.

Last Stand
Keys needed (versions 1.6 and under): five (four in Wild West)

This Brain Buster is similar to the original Last Stand from Plants vs. Zombies. The player has to plan a defense to survive the incoming onslaught using a limited amount of sun. No sun-producing plants can be used to create more sun.

Played on Ancient Egypt - Days 18 and 24, Pirate Seas - Days 14 and 22, Wild West - Days 6 and 18, Far Future - Days 11 and 22, and Dark Ages - Nights 6 and 15.

Special Delivery
Keys needed (versions 1.6 and under): one

In this Brain Buster, the player must use plants given from a conveyor belt.

Mummy Memory
Keys needed (versions 1.6 and under): four

Ancient Egypt - Day 8. (pre-1.7)

Ancient Egypt - Days 7, 16, and 23.

In this Brain Buster, the player has to match various symbols by flipping the Camel Zombies' boards to kill them. No lawnmowers are added to these levels.

Cannons Away
Keys needed (versions 1.6 and under): three

Pirate Seas - Day 5. (pre-1.7)

Pirate Seas - Days 3, 11, and 20.

Here, the player has to blast as many Seagull Zombies using the Coconut Cannons to beat the target score. As each level is beat, the score goal increases. There are many chances to earn combos here.

Not OK Corral
Keys needed (versions 1.6 and under): three

Wild West - Day 5. (pre-1.7)

Wild West - Days 4, Day 12, and 20.

Here, the player has to put the plants in the mine carts strategically to destroy the zombies coming out from the corrals. Corrals with electricity indicate no zombies are to come from that corral for the entire level.

Sun Bombs
Far Future - Days 4, 19 and 24.

Here, Sunflowers, Twin Sunflowers, and Sun-shrooms cannot be used. Sun falling from the sky is purple before reaching the ground. They explode, taking out plants and zombies only if the player touches them before they reach the ground. However, sun falling from the sky is significantly more common. This brain buster allows players to think strategically of whether to save up for expensive plants or use the bombs to defeat zombies.

Special Delivery
Far Future - Day 16.

In this Brain Buster, the player must use the plants given from a conveyor belt. No sun plants or sun are needed or provided.

Zomboss Test Lab
Far Future - After Day 10. (Chinese version Only)

On this level there are plants on the lawn and the player has to defeat them in order to beat the level, it can "plant" zombies to overcome and eat all the plants. Every plant eaten is worth 150 sun. This Brain Buster is similar to I, Zombie from Plants vs. Zombies.

All by Oneself
Far Future - After Day 3. (Chinese version Only)

The plants have 10 times damage and have a faster shooting rate in here, only one plants to kill zombies. The plant get XP when killing zombies, if the plant have enough XP, it will upgrade to a stronger plant. You need to move your plant on a cart and dodge bombs.

Dark Alchemy
Dark Ages - Nights 9 and 17.

In this Brain Buster, a hand which comes from the ground leaves "evil" potions on the lawn that can give zombies effects.

The orange potions make zombies walk faster while the pink potions make them tougher and larger.

Special Delivery
Dark Ages - Nights 4 and 13.

In this Brain Buster, the player must use the plants given from a conveyor-belt similar to the original game.

Powder Keg
Here, the player tries to avoid the flames of the torches from destroying the kegs. If all the kegs explode, the player loses. Iceberg Lettuce, Snow Pea, and Winter Melon can extinguish the flames.

Bronze Matrix
In this mini-game, the player must use the plants given to them via conveyor-belt. There are a certain number of petrified Gargantuar Bronzes that will attempt to free themselves from petrification given by the timer. These petrified warriors can be destroyed by plants. If the player fails, the Gargantuar Bronze is free from petrification and is ready to smash the Player's line of defenses. The more petrified Gargantuar Bronzes are there, the harder the battle becomes. The player wins when all zombies are killed.

Trivia

 * None of the Last Stand levels except one (Ancient Egypt - III before the 1.7 update and Day 24 afterward) let the player use free plants such as Iceberg Lettuce.
 * The Brain Busters were previously separate from the main level progression before the 1.7 update (accessed using keys); afterwards, the Brain Busters have been integrated into the main level progression.
 * Also, Brain Busters required all lawn mowers to be un-triggered at the end of the level before the 1.7 update.
 * Vasebreaker is not a Brain Buster, according to PopCap. Instead it is a seperated mini-game.
 * Each Brain Buster is seen with a striped blue (green if not done) color instead of just blue.