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 sets of challenging levels introduced in 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, instead of solid colored like regular levels. Some Brain Busters return from Plants vs. Zombies' mini-games, but most of them are new. Although they are not mini-games, they are somewhat similar to the mini-games and puzzles of the first game.

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 killing 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. Some even contain 2-3 types of plants in the same level.

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, Big Wave Beach - Day 15, 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, Dark Ages - Nights 8 and 18, and Big Wave Beach - Day 14.

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.

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, Big Wave Beach - Day 12.

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

In this Brain Buster, the player must use plants given from a conveyor belt. It is a return from Plants vs. Zombies.

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 is increased by Penny. Combos can be made if more Seagull Zombies are killed at the same time.

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, all sun-producing plants except for Sun Bean 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.

Special Delivery
Far Future - Day 16.

In this Brain Buster, the player must use the plants given via conveyor-belt instead of using sun.

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 destroy them in order to beat the level. The player must spawn zombies to eat the plants. Every eaten plant 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 ten times damage and have a faster shooting rate in here, there is only one plant to kill zombies. The plant gets XP when killing zombies, if the plant has 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.

Special Delivery
Dark Ages - Nights 4 and 13.

In this Brain Buster, the player must use the plants given via conveyor-belt.

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 afterwards) 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 white-striped blue (green if not done) color instead of just blue on the map.