Whack a Zombie


 * For the Adventure Mode version of this level, see Level 2-5.

"It's just like huntin' squirbos."

- Crazy Dave

Whack a Zombie is a mini-game based on Adventure Mode Level 2-5 in Plants vs. Zombies, a Bonus level. It is also present in Plants vs. Zombies: Journey to the West and Plants vs. Zombies: Great Wall Edition. This is a harder version of the level. The player uses a mallet to whack zombies that spawn from graves all over the right half of the lawn. As the level continues, the zombie's speed quickens. Different zombies take different amount of hits before they die. The player may also earn sun from zombies to use helpful plants.

Strategies
You use a mallet in this level to whack zombies to kill them. Killed zombies occasionally drop 75 sun with which you can plant Ice-shrooms (Cherry Bombs in the Adventure Mode and iOS version), Potato Mines, and Grave Busters. As in Wall-nut Bowling, Zombies take one hit, Conehead Zombies two, and Buckethead Zombies three.

Initially, Grave Busters should be used to destroy the graves that are closest to the player's house or lanes with multiple graves, working backwards towards the edge of the lawn. As the level progresses, it is a good idea to systematically use Grave Busters so that eventually the only graves remaining are in one horizontal row (or at most two adjacent ones); this will group all the zombies together and thus make it easier to whack them. Also, since destroying too many graves causes multiple new ones to spawn at a time, it is ideal to leave exactly four graves, and then only destroy new ones as soon as they spawn.

Ice-shrooms or Cherry Bombs should be used wisely, as their recharge time stops them from being used more than twice. Potato Mines can also be planted in front of the Lawn Mowers to stop single zombies. Since the zombies walk faster and faster as the level progresses, you might need an Ice-shroom right before the final wave.

When the level is complete, the player can keep planting Grave Busters on the remaining graves until they run out of sun. If they are lucky they can quickly remove all the graves.

On the iPad version, the player should turn off the multitasking gestures to use as many fingers as possible without interrupting the game by mistake.

Gold farming
This strategy is simple: the player should use Grave Busters to remove as many graves as they can. If the player has enough sun at the end of the level, they shouldn't grab the money bag. The player should use Grave Busters to eat as many graves as they can and earn money, then collect the money bag.

Trivia

 * There are Cherry Bombs in the Adventure Mode version because Ice-shroom has not been unlocked by then.
 * Though Cherry Bomb still appears in the mobile version of this mini-game.
 * It is impossible to remove all of the graves before the final wave of the level because new graves will rise up (and if there are less than four graves when one spawns, multiple will spawn to make five). However, if you have enough sun at the end of the level, you can remove the rest of the graves before collecting the trophy or money bag.
 * If you type the code "dance" it will make the zombies go slower than usual in this Mini-game. However, new zombies will dance faster.
 * This is the only nighttime mini-game that plays the "Loonboon" track. However, editing saved data can make Whack a Zombie take place on Day, Pool, Fog, Roof, and Night Roof. Your cursor, however, will be invisible.
 * This is also the only night mini-game with Graves.
 * The player cannot collect the achievement "Photosensitive" in the Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSiWare versions of Whack a Zombie.
 * The player can use multiple mallets in the iPad version, but not in iOS and Nintendo DS versions because of non-multitouch software.
 * No Fungus Among Us cannot be unlocked on this level.
 * This is because Ice-shroom is in some versions.
 * Whack a Zombie is the only mini-game where the player has only three seed packets to use.
 * Whack a Zombie and Homerun Derby are the only mini-games in which a single zombie type can have multiple speeds. The Zombies can walk with speeds ranging from their normal speed to speeds faster than a Football Zombie or an Imp on the I, Zombie version.
 * The difficulty of this game in the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions is harder, due to the fact that the player needs to drag the frame to the zombie, then click on a button to kill a zombie, since there is effectively a maximum speed at which he or she can drag the frame from one lane to the opposite lane on the lawn.
 * If the player is not playing the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 versions, he or she can spend his or her remaining sun on Grave Busters, just to get the coins. The player can keep spending until he or she have no sun left, not enough to buy another Grave Buster or no more Graves are on screen.
 * The Zen Garden plants found here are the plants from the Night levels.
 * Whack a Zombie is a reference to the game Whack a Mole.
 * If the player modifies the save data from Dr. Zomboss's Revenge to Whack a Zombie, the Zombot will be attackable, and it will disappear only in one hit. Dr. Zomboss will also disappear.
 * This is because the creators did not make the game have proper programming when a mallet hits Dr. Zomboss, making it disappear in one hit, similar to when a zombie not included in Wall-nut Bowling collides with a Wall-nut.
 * On the iOS and Android versions, the Ice-shroom is replaced by the Cherry Bomb. This is most likely so the player cannot easily earn the achievement 20 Below Zero on the final wave, or to further emulate level 2-5.
 * The iOS/Android/Xbox Live Arcade version icon has a picture of a mallet poking a zombie's eye out, even though this is seems inappropriate for kids (although there is no gore and blood in the icon, and this is rated E10/9+).
 * Whack a Zombie is similar to Nuclide's Hammer Heads Deluxe.