Vasebreaker

Vasebreaker is one of the groups in Puzzle Mode levels that involves breaking open vases to obtain plants and kill zombies. The focus of this puzzle is as much luck as logic, as randomly breaking vases will only get you easily overran. Each vase will either have a plant or zombie in it, except for the green vases with leaves on them, which will always contain plants. Gargantuars are very dangerous in these levels as they will smash open vases in addition to crushing plants, similar to how Jack-in-the-Box Zombies will explode immediately and destroy vases in addition to plants. Vasebreaker offers a unique variation on the basic game play by allowing you to control the speed at which new plants or zombies arrive.

After every ten levels of Vasebreaker Endless, a Present, Chocolate, a bag with gold coins, or a bag with a diamond will drop.

Levels
There are 10 Vasebreaker levels, each becoming more and more difficult.
 * Vasebreaker
 * To the Left
 * Third Vase
 * Chain Reaction
 * M is for Metal
 * Scary Potter
 * Hokey Pokey
 * Another Chain Reaction
 * Ace of Vase
 * Vasebreaker Endlessthumb|right|300px|Playthrough for all the Vasebreaker puzzles (except for Endless).

Strategy
As the Tree of Wisdom states, Vasebraker is easier if you break rightside first. If you get a Squash, look for a Buckethead or other tough zombie that needs killing. Planterns should be planted in the middle of a large group ov vases. Place the two Threepeaters in rows 2 and 4 to cover all rows quickly. Vasebreaker Endless, much like Survival: Endless, offers a chance to hone your skills against ever increasing odds.

Plants
Of the 35 jars provided, 20 are plants along with 1 vase of sun. For all levels, this is what you receive:


 * 6 Repeaters, facing backwards
 * 2 Threepeaters
 * 1 Peashooter
 * 2 Snow Peas
 * 6 Squashes
 * 1 Wall-nut
 * 1 Plantern
 * 1 Potato Mine

You will also receive 25 to 75 sun every level that can be used for a Cherry Bomb.

Zombies
The final 14 jars are zombies. For the first 9 levels, you will face:


 * 8 Basic Zombies
 * 5 Buckethead Zombies
 * 1 Gargantuar + Imp, although it cannot be thrown if the Gargantuar is over halfway across the screen
 * 1 Jack-in-the-Box Zombie

Every ten levels, a basic zombie will be replaced with an additional Gargantuar. There will be 8 Gargantuars after 70 Streaks.

Basic Strategy

 * Of the 35 vases, you will always receive 2 green vases that always contain plants. It's best to save them for when you really need something.
 * Starting out, break vases along the right edge (Column 9) one at a time.
 * If you find a plant, keep breaking until you find a zombie that needs killing.
 * Try not to place plants before you know they will be needed. You'll be surprised how many empty rows you get.
 * If a seed packet ever starts flashing, place it immediately because it will disappear if unused. Generally, you'll want to spread out your plants so that you can cover multiple rows.
 * If you find Squash, it's time to start clearing the left-side columns. Beginning with the center row of column 4, break the vases until you find a Gargantuar or Buckethead, and try to multi-squash.
 * If you find a standard Zombie, put a Repeater in that row and it will defeat him before he gets to the end.
 * The Plantern ideally should be placed in the 4th column (second column of vases) in either the 2nd, 3rd or 4th row. This will illuminate 3 rows worth of 3 columns in the most deadly area. However it should be placed wherever it can illuminate the most vases, so it should be placed other places under different circumstances.
 * Wall-nuts can be used in place of a squash in rows with multiple Bucketheads. As long as you break them one at a time, the Wall-nut can absorb a lot of damage while you only hit them with 2 or three peas. This will save Squash and allow you to double up on repeaters in other rows some times. Remember, against a Gargantuar the Wall-nut will just get smashed so put it somewhere else.
 * Don't be afraid to double-up. If you get a row with little or no zombies, move those resources elsewhere. Sometimes you will end a game with a row having as many as 7 plants!
 * Be patient. If you have a row that is currently killing a zombie, wait until he dies and clear out that row.
 * Note that it is important to kill Gargantuars quickly, as they smash vases in addition to plants.
 * The Adventure Mode Vasebreaker, introduced by Crazy Dave, could simply be done by smashing all of the vases at once, since the Lawn Mowers will eliminate them all.

Tactics

 * Multi-Squashing: This is the practice of breaking vases in a precise time that another zombie is walking past it so that your squash can kill multiples simultaneously. Try to use the tie to help line them up. Because the zombies don't all have the exact same speed, it's difficult to pull of with more than 2 or 3 at a time, although it should be easy with normal and Buckethead Zombies. The most useful example of multi-squashing is in front of Gargantuars. As he goes down the row, he will break vases creating a traffic jam of zombies. However, if there is at least one plant in the first column (left-most), they will all pile up to eat that plant, creating an opportunity to multi-squash the whole group, and hopefully the Gargantuar too. Technically you can blow up multiple zombies with a single Potato Mine, but it's much more difficult. It helps to use a Snow Pea in the first column and the Instant Kill in the second column
 * Wild-clicking: This is what you do when you need a certain plant quickly, and have already exhausted your two given green vases. It's best to go down each column, starting with the far left. If you can avoid rows that are already trying to kill something, do so. Once you've cleared a whole column, start on the next column to the left, and see if you can line them up for a potential multi-squash. Once you've found what you're looking for, clean-up by placing plants in rows where they can be used.
 * Know your columnpoints: Each zombie can only take a certain number of hits. For a standard zombie, it is 10 single pea shoots. However, since it is too cumbersome to count, here is the number of columnpoints (columns a zombie can traverse while taking regular damage before it will die).
 * Zombie- 3
 * Buckethead- 15
 * Gargantuar- 30
 * Imp - 3 (approximately-appears to take only 6 pea hits, but actually takes 10).
 * What this means is in a row with a single Peashooter, a normal zombie will survive 3 columns before dying. If he's being hit by a Repeater, he'll only make it about 1 1/2. To determine how far a zombie will go, take his columnpoints and divide it by the number of peas hitting him. Remember, some zombies are slightly faster than others, so use this as an estimation.
 * Special Plants with regard to columnpoints:
 * Snow Pea will half a Zombie's speed, so divide their Columnpoints by two. Don't forget that a snow pea also does one damage as well.
 * Squash and Potato Mines do approximately 15 Columnpoints worth of damage to everything they hit.
 * Against Gargantuars: Gargantuars are your single worst threat, other than an ill-timed Jack-in-the-Box. It is straight forward to just hit him with two squash, but when you get to higher levels you won't have enough squash to do this and cover Column 3/4 Bucketheads. Therefore, you need to learn how to kill them with just one squash.
 * If the Gargantuar appears in the right 3 columns (7,8,9) don't hit him with a Squash immediately. He will throw the Imp who will eat any single shooter except the Snow Pea (if you have a Threepeater in an adjacent row, that will suffice). The Imp will use up Potato Mines or Squash unnecessarily.
 * If the Gargantuar appears in the left 2 columns (3,4) double squash him. It would take at least 1 Squash and quite a bit of firepower to take him out, so just be done with him.
 * If he appears in the middle, your are probably in good shape. He can absorb as much damage as a normal Buckethead (actually, 60 peas) assuming you'll use at least 1 squash, and once he passes the 6th column he'll no longer throw the Imp. That should give you enough time to kill him.
 * Snow Peas in column 1 are ideal. They slow him and any zombies he liberates down and it can kill the Imp if he throws it. Also helps align them for a Multi-squash tactic.
 * Potato Mines will hurt him if they are set, but if he breaks a zombie out in front of him that zombie will take the mine out and the Gargantuar may not get hit by the Potato Mine.
 * Timing Squash can be very tricky. If you are good, you can place it so that a zombie in front of him will take a couple of bites before it hits the zombie and Gargantuar.
 * Cherry Bombs: Cherry Bombs should only be used in an emergency. You really don't need them until at least sreak 20. However, here are some hints:
 * Use it as a last ditch option. If you're going to lose the game because a zombie is walking off screen, blow them up with the Cherry Bomb.
 * Use it to clean multiple rows. Since the Cherry bomb hits a 3x3 area, it can defend multiple rows simultaneously.
 * Use it to take out 2 Gargantuars. If a Gargantuar breaks another Gargantuar out, it can be very difficult to hit both with a single squash (assuming no Snow Pea). Cherry Bombs can handle this.
 * Pay attention to the recharge time. Like in the normal game, the recharge is painfully slow. If you have made it to later levels, give it a chance to recharge fully before or even in game. Losing the game with enough sun available is possible since the Cherry Bomb recharging is very slow.
 * A little trick, if you grab a plant by mistake and don't want to plant it just yet, bring it up to the shovel and let go. It will ungrab from your mouse and you can plant where you want (You can also right-click unless on the Online version).

Trivia

 * Third Vase is a reference to third base.
 * Scary Potter is a reference to the book character Harry Potter.
 * Hokey Pokey is a reference to the dance of the same name.
 * Also possibly because this is the only level you use Spikeweed.
 * Ace of Vase is a reference to European pop group Ace of Base, or the 'ace of spades' card.
 * Since the Gargantuar doesn't appear in the online version of Plants vs. Zombies, it is replaced by the Giga Football Zombie.
 * In M is for Metal, it may be possible for the Jack-in-the-Box Zombie to get into the house without its Jack-in-the-Box if there is a Magnet-shroom near to it, as it will steal it's Jack-in-the-Box, allowing it to walk freely.
 * It seems impossible for a Gargantuar to fit in a single small vase.
 * It may be because that zombies are compressed to a smaller size while inside the vase.
 * In the iPad version, Vasebreaker is part of the Mini-games with only three rounds.
 * In the Web version, there is no Jack-in-the-Box Zombies, so they have been replaced with a dynamite.
 * The hammer used to break the vases is the same as the one used in Whack a Zombie.
 * When the last zombie (except for Gargantuars) is killed in a streak in Vasebreaker: Endless, only its head will fall down and its body will disappear.
 * This also happens when a zombie is killed by a Lawn Mower or is the last zombie to be killed in a level.
 * In the PC version, if the last zombie dies, a hypnotized zombie would suddenly disappear.
 * If you buy a rake and no zombies use it, it will disappear in the second level in Vasebreaker Endless.
 * Level 4-5 is a Vasebreaker level on the night stage (front yard), even though 4 levels are on the Fog stage (backyard).
 * The Repeater facing the other way is just like the Split Pea shooting backwards.
 * Maybe it is because they didn't want to use the front of the Split Pea.
 * According to the Lawn Strings, the Vasebreaker series was originally going to be called Scary Potter.
 * There was supposed to be 3 kind of vases due to the other version of Plants vs. Zombies (with "images" folder), two of them are already added (Mystery vase and Plants vase), and an unreleased Zombie vase with Zombie's color and Zombie's face sign.
 * Some people think the Scary Potter (the pot that was designed but never seen) only will have a Zombie.
 * Strangely, Conehead Zombies don't appear in Vasebreaker levels.
 * The name may be a reference to the game Facebreaker.
 * Vasebreaker is available for iPhone and iPod Touch. The 1st level is free, the other 8 and endless are purchased through Crazy Dave's shop for 150,000 coins.
 * It is more difficult in the iPhone version than the PC version, as only the PC version allows the half tile or so to the left of the lawn be used to kill the zombies. Hence, you need to kill the zombies faster with the same amount of offense since there is half a column or so less before they reach your house.