Adventure Mode/Strategy guide

This page is a guide with tips on how to complete the stages in Adventure Mode.

For a more in depth guide, try here.

Stage layout

 * First level

The first stage is meant to introduce you to the new environment of the stage, Day, Night, Pool, Fog, or Roof.
 * Second to fourth levels

In these levels you work on getting a good strategy for the environment, and how to deal with the new zombies. You get an item at the end of the fourth level.
 * Fifth level

The fifth stage is always a Bonus Level, most of which later reappear as Mini-games.
 * Sixth through ninth levels

These are just more practice with strategy, but also could be difficult. You always get a zombie note at the end of the ninth level.
 * Tenth level

This is the final level in the stage, and is a conveyor belt level. In these levels, you don't need to worry about sun. The plant cards come on the conveyor belt at the top, and stop once they reach the end. You can grab them off of any part of it and plant them. This is all you need to do in the level. Make sure to keep at least some space on the conveyor belt clear, though, or there will be no room for new cards to come in.

Overview
The levels here are simple. It is day, so Sun will come from the sky. This is the basic layout. At the beginning of the first few levels, strips of turf will roll out, eventually creating five rows. This acts as a tutorial level, and the first three levels cannot be replayed when completed.

Level 1-1
Here there's only one strip of grass. Plant as many Peashooters as possible, but three is fine. There are only five zombies during this level. This level is the easiest, so actualy, 2 peashooters can work well. (Theres only 5 zombies, so this works fine)

Plants earned: Peashooter, Sunflower

New Zombie: Zombie

Level 1-2
Two more strips of grass will roll out here. Plant 3 or 6 Sunflowers in the back, and then plant more Peashooters until you get a solid defense.

Plant earned: Cherry Bomb

Level 1-3
Same tactic as Level 2. However, if anything gets bad, use a Cherry Bomb. You may want to use it at the final wave. This level is the first to feature Conehead Zombies, which are tougher than the normal variety. If you don't have enough Peashooters, save some Sun so you can Bomb them.

Plant earned: Wall-nut

New Zombies: Flag Zombie, Conehead Zombie

Level 1-4
Here, you finally get all 5 lanes of grass, use them well by planting either 5 or 10 Sunflowers. When the first Zombie comes, plant a Peashooter in its lane. Next, plant more Peashooters. You may want to add a row or two of Wall-nuts as well.

Item earned: Shovel

Level 1-5
Wall-nut Bowling First, using your new trusty Shovel, dig up the three Peashooters, as told by Crazy Dave. Next, when the first zombie comes, place a Wall-nut in its lane and watch. Repeat as necessary. Attempt to achieve as many ricochets as possible, and keep in mind that the Coneheads take two hits, and Wall-nuts don't roll of the screen when they reach the end of the conveyer belt. Explode-o-nuts (the red Wall-nuts) are essentially a Cherry Bomb. Save them for emergencies.

Plant earned: Potato Mine

Level 1-6
This is the first actual level you'll come up against, featuring the new Pole Vaulting Zombie. Although it's not quite as tough as Coneheads, it does move significantly faster. Stick a Wall-nut in front of it to slow it down, but if you have two Peashooters firing at it, it'll go down easily. Other than that, there really isn't anything else remarkable about this level.

Plant earned: Snow Pea

New Zombie: Pole Vaulting Zombie

Level 1-7
This level is the first of many to have multiple waves of zombies (only two), so save some Sun for Cherry Bombs for both waves. You can check your progress at the top of the screen. Use the new Snow Peas to defeat the Coneheads and Pole Vaulters with ease. A single one is enough to stop both. Because of their higher Sun cost, though, you may want to use more Sunflowers than normal. Note that there is no added benefit to using multiple Snow Peas in the same row. Once you have a Snow Pea base, the game basically plays itself.

Plant earned: Chomper

Level 1-8
This level introduces Bucketheads, which are tougher than Coneheads and Vaulters. Fortunately, very few appear. A Snow Pea/Peashooter combo is enough to take them out, but feel free to use Cherry Bombs, Potato Mines, or the new Chompers if conventional methods fail. Note that all levels, starting with this one, will limit the plants you can use. Later on, you can get more seed slots, but for now you're restricted to six.

Plant earned: Repeater

New Zombie: Buckethead Zombie

Level 1-9
Coneheads, Pole Vaulters, and especially Bucketheads all appear more frequently in this two-wave stage. Use a Snow Pea/Repeater combo to take them out, and pack your Instant Kill items if you need to take someone out in a pinch. A Wall-nut is also handy if the onslaught gets too unbearable.

Item earned: Note

Level 1-10
This is your first conveyor belt level. Plant your peashooters as soon as possible, and try to distribute evenly between the rows. Set up a Wall-nut shield in a later column, with Potato Mines directly behind it. Try to spread out your Snow Peas so you have at least one in every row. Save your Cherry Bombs for clusters of Bucketheads. Plant any plants you don't intend to use so you can leave space for new seeds on the conveyor belt. This should be a fairly easy level.

Plant earned: Puff-shroom

Overview
The main difference between day and night is that sun does not fall from the sky. This is reflected in that many mushrooms have low Sun costs to plant, but it is still recommended that you bring both Sunflowers and Sun-shrooms (when they are unlocked), planting a column of each in the back (focusing on the Sun-shrooms first). Overkill is not enough on the night levels, believe me. The graves on every level spawn Zombies on the final wave, so pay attention and use Grave Busters (again, when unlocked).

Level 2-1
Okay, bring your spanking-new Puff-shrooms for no-cost zombie win and some other low cost plants, such as Potato Mines or Peashooters. It takes two Puff-shrooms to bring down a normal Zombie. Newspaper Zombies also appear here, but Coneheads, Bucketheads, and Pole Vaulters don't. They speed up when you destroy their Sudoku puzzle, so plant extra Puff-shrooms when you see them come. This isn't difficult in the slighest.

Plant earned: Sun-shroom

New Zombie: Newspaper Zombie

Level 2-2
At this point, Crazy Dave will tell you how much money you have saved. If you have $750, he will attempt to sell you an extra seed slot, which you should definitely accept if you can afford it. The level itself brings back Coneheads and Bucketheads, so bring both Sunflowers and Sun-shrooms to rack up the Sun, as well as Wall-nuts and Snow Peas, and of course your Puff-shrooms. Focus on Sun-shrooms in the beginning, planting Sunflowers later on. After the first wave, Bucketheads start coming, so make sure you have up Snow Peas and Wall-nuts to defend against them. If you can quickly build up your Sun production, this level should be no trouble at all.

Plant earned: Fume-shroom

Level 2-3
This level has Coneheads (getting used to these?) and the new Screen Door Zombies, which carry around... Screen doors to protect themselves with. These are exactly as tough as Bucketheads, so use your new Fume-shrooms to pass through the doors. This level is pretty easy. There's only one wave, so don't knock yourself out if you need to use a Lawn Mower.

Plant earned: Grave Buster

New Zombie: Screen Door Zombie

Level 2-4
Nothing too hard about this. Coneheads, Screen Doors, and Pole Vaulters. Nothing you haven't seen before. This level has a lot of graves, so bring Grave Busters to eat them... Before they spawn zombies to eat YOU! Plus, there's a 90% chance to earn a silver coin. There's another wave this time, so beef up your Fume-shrooms and Snow Peas. Um... That's all, I guess.

Item earned: Suburban Almanac

Level 2-5
It's time to play Whack-a-Zombie! Click/tap/whatever the zombies to kill them as soon as they come out of the graves. Coneheads need to be hit twice, Bucketheads three times. Use your Sun to plant Grave Busters. The zombies move fairly fast, so, uh, click/tap/whatever faster. Yeah. Just like hunting squirbos. Also, this is a great level to earn money on. And get the Penny Pincher Achievement.

Plant earned: Hypno-shroom

Level 2-6
This is where it gets tough. Football Zombies are as fast as Pole Vaulters and a bit tougher as Bucketheads, so use your new Hypno-shrooms make them fight for you. Sweet! Fortunately, there's only one wave and about two Football Zombies. Other than that, uh, Coneheads. Yeah.

Plant earned: Scaredy-shroom

Level 2-7
Many graves here. Many, many graves. Bust them up and count your money. Use Scaredy-shrooms like you would Peashooters. Very few Football Zombies, but Screen Doors make a return, so double on the Fume-shrooms. There also Coneheads, which you should know how to deal with by now. Nothing too spectacular here.

Plant earned: Ice-shroom

Level 2-8
Coneheads and Dancing Zombies, who no longer resemble a certain pop superstar, appear here. Dancing Zombies aren't so bad themselves, but they summon a foursome of Backup Dancers to back themselves up. Hypno-shroom them as soon as you see them to make them do your bidding. Only one wave here and very few Dancing Zombies, so do what you gotta do, I guess.

Plant earned: Doom-shroom

New Zombies: Dancing Zombies, Backup Dancers

Level 2-9
More graves and Dancing Zombies this time around. Whatever you've been using before should work here, as well. Screen Door Zombies return, so Fume them to Kingdom Come. If you beat the last level, you can beat this one.

Item earned: Note

Level 2-10
Footballs, Coneheads, Screen Doors, and Dancers all appear on this conveyor belt level. You get Ice-shrooms, Doom-shrooms, Puff-shrooms, Fume-shrooms, Hypno-shrooms, Scaredy-shrooms here, so Hypnotize the Football Zombies, Fume the Screen Doorers, and Hypnotize the Dancers. Freeze and cause Doom to everything else. Spread you Puffs, Fumes, and Scaredys evenly throughout. No graves here, so that's one less thing to worry about.

Plant earned: Lily Pad

Overview
Pool levels have six rows of Zombies to invade, the middle two being the pool. The pool has special plants and zombies that can only be planted/appear there. Your Puff 'shrooms from the previous level are unusable here, but Sun falls from the sky again, and graves don't appear here. Not too different from the Day Levels, overall.

Level 3-1
Aside from the occasional Conehead, nothing remotely smacking of toughness appears here. Ducky Tubers, the pool-only Zombies, appear only during or directly before the wave, giving you plenty of time to prepare. Note that Ducky Tubers pop out of the pool during the final wave much like normal Zombies from graves. This level is so easy, you have to try to lose.

Plant earned: Squash

New Zombie: Ducky Tube Zombie

Level 3-2
The zombies here have some variety to them, so apply your skills and strategies from earlier levels. Bring Snow Peas as well as your instants, including the new Squash (which is arguably the best instant in the game). Bucketheads appear frequently after the first wave, and both Coneheads and Bucketheads now appear as Ducky Tubers. A single Football Zombie appears at the very end, and Newspaper Zombies are spread throughout. This level isn't a cakewalk.

Plant earned: Threepeater

Reward: Mini-Games unlocked

Level 3-3
This level simplifies things a bit from the previous one, cutting out the Newspaper, Buckethead, and Football Zombies. Instead, this level introduces Snorkel Zombies directly following the first wave. These zombies stay underwater, out of pea's range, surfacing only to eat your plants. USE WALL-NUTS! Without Wall-nuts guarding them, Snorkel Zombies will likely eat all of your pool defenses. Given their large numbers, relying on instants is not a valid strategy. Other than that major threat, this level shouldn't be much of a hassle.

Plant earned: Tangle Kelp

New Zombie: Snorkel Zombie

Level 3-4
Around this time, if you've been diligent in collecting dropped coins and saving Lawn Mowers, Crazy Dave will ask you if you'd like another seed slot (bringing you up to eight) for $5,000. Take this deal whenever you can - there's nothing else you can spend money on at this point, and seed slots rock. Anyway, Pole Vaulters reappear here early on, and Snorkel varieties crop up past the first wave. Generous amounts of Bucketheads come at you, so prepare accordingly. Nothing here you haven't seen before.

Item earned: Car Keys

Level 3-5
Defend your shins! Peashooters, Wall-nuts, Lily Pads, and Cherry Bombs appear through the conveyor belt. Use Wall-nuts against Snorkels and Footballs. Use Cherry Bombs liberally, and spread your Wall-nuts evenly throughout. Peashooters will be of some help, but the masses of zombies you fight will force dependency on Wall-nuts. (If you are playing the Online Version, you will see regular-sized zombies.)

Plant earned: Jalapeno

Level 3-6
There are Zombonis here, so you better save Jalapenos for them when they come in. You will need Chomper or Squash for these attacks as well. The Snorkel Zombie is also here so do be careful. At least 2 Zombonis will come so be prepared.

Plant earned: Spikeweed

Level 3-7
Here, there are more Zombonis and Snorkel Zombies. There are lots of Buckethead Zombies too. Use Wall-nuts for the Snorkel Zombies, and you can use the newly earned Spikeweed to kill the Zombonis. Squash or other instant kills is needed. Not a really hard level.

Plant earned:Torchwood

Level 3-8

Doubt enough for your Peashooters?, Heres the plan:

Plant the Sunflowers on the first row, Those Peashooters are beside the Reapeaters to make a strong Gatling Pea combo (Only if your tired of the very slow recharge of the Gatling Pea)

Plant earned: Are you an idiot?? It's a Tall-nut, You bitchass