Brain Busters

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

- Crazy Dave


 * For the similar game mode in Plants vs. Zombies, see Mini-games.

Brain Busters are types of levels in Plants vs. Zombies 2 which are more challenging than usual and add different mechanics or conditions to gameplay. They are marked on the map as semispheres with striped icons, instead of solid colored semispheres like regular levels. In the Chinese version and before the 1.7 update, these were unlocked using world-specific keys. Some Brain Busters are remakes of Plants vs. Zombies mini-games, but most of them are new. Gameplay wise, they play out similarly to the mini-games and puzzles of the first game. Some of Brain Busters are only available in one world.

Save Our Seeds
Keys needed (versions 1.6 and below): 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 - Days 15, 23, and 30, Frostbite Caves - Days 15, 23, and 27, Lost City - Day 15, Neon Mixtape Tour Day 5 an 15 and also select 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, the player "would have risked distorting reality", according to Penny.

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, Big Wave Beach - Days 14 and 31, and Frostbite Caves - Days 14 and 29, Lost City - Days 8, 14, 21, and 31, and several Piñata Parties.

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 - Days 12 and 29, and Frostbite Caves - Days 12 and 28.

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 like the tenth level from each stage from Plants vs. Zombies.

Played on Ancient Egypt - Day 4.

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

In this Brain Buster, the player has to match various symbols by flipping the Camel Zombies' boards to kill them. Lawn mowers, Plant Food, and Power Ups are disabled in these levels.

Played on Ancient Egypt - Days 7, 16, and 23.

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

Here, the player has to blast as many Seagull Zombies using the provided 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.

Played on Pirate Seas - Days 3, 11, and 20.

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

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

Here, the player has to put the plants in the minecarts 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.

Played on Wild West - Days 4, 12, and 20.

Sun Bombs
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 falls from the sky twice as often compared to a normal level.

Played on Far Future - Days 4, 19 and 24.

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

Played on Far Future - Day 16.

Zomboss Test Lab
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
The plants do ten times the 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. Players need to move your plant on a cart and dodge bombs.

Dark Alchemy
In this Brain Buster, a hand which comes from the ground leaves "evil" potions on the lawn that can give zombies helpful effects. Visually, the zombies will look bigger when they touch certain potions.

The orange potions make zombies walk faster while the pink potions give them a 25% health increase according to their max health.

Played on Dark Ages - Nights 9 and 17.

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

Played on Dark Ages - Nights 4 and 13.

Fright Theatre
In this Brain Buster, the player must defend The Little Pigs from zombies in a wolf costume. All zombies move along a predetermined path. Any plants planted at the left side of the path will be eaten. The zombies have much higher health in this Brain Buster. This is the only Brain Buster to have a completely unique lawn design.

Eye for an Eye
In this Brain Buster, the player must fight zombies only with Hypno-shrooms while "evil" potions appear.

Oak Archery
In this Brain Buster, the player must operate Oak Archer to shoot incoming zombies.

Bulb Bowling
In this Brain Buster, the player must use the four types of bulbs from the Bowling Bulb to kill the zombies. Different types of bulbs deals different damage. The bulbs given are the basic trio of bulbs, along with a Plant Food-powered one.

Played on Big Wave Beach - Days 8 and 24.

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

Played on Big Wave Beach - Days 3, 5, 10, 18, 21 and 26.

Gluttonous Hungry Guacodile
In this Brain Buster, the player controls a Guacodile line which slowly gets longer and longer, they must try to defeat all the zombies without touching another of their Guacodiles. The lawn is much larger, and the zombies are smaller. This is the only Brain Buster to have small zombies.

Vasebreaker
In this Brain Buster, the player breaks vases to get plants, zombies or plant food. Use the plants you get from the vases to kill the zombies broken from vases.

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

Played on Frostbite Caves - Days 3, 5, 8, 10, 18, 21 and 25.

Plant Maze
In this Brain Buster, the player must match orbs to attack zombies, but if you stall too long, the zombies will eat the endangered plant. There are various types of orbs, each powering a specific plant. Like brown,etc.

Dodo Adventure
In this Brain Buster, the player controls a Dodo Rider Zombie past danger to get to the end. This is the 2nd brain buster in which the player controls a zombie(s) instead of a plant(s).

It's Raining Seeds
In this Brain Buster, plant packets and hypnotized zombie packets fall from the sky, the player has to plant these in the right place in order to defeat the zombies. This Brain Buster is very similar to the mini-game It's Raining Seeds from the first game.

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

Played on Lost City - Days 3, 5, 9, 13, and 18.

Trap Tiles
In Part 2, there is a Brain Buster that includes the use of two types of Trap Tiles, a fire tile and a boulder tile which will activate their respected elements, damaging plants and zombies. The player has to use these tiles to their advantage to defeat the zombies.

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

Played on Neon Mixtape Tour - Days 3, 6, 10, 19, 22, and 27

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 Brain Buster, 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.

One Gun Guard
In this Brain Buster, the player must use a turret to destroy waves of zombies.

Air Raid
In this Brain Buster, the player must choose one from three plant teams and controls a flying plant to defeat incoming zombies.

Across the Lawn
In this Brain Buster, similar to the Fright Theatre, the player must defend the house from the zombies before destroying it.

Trivia

 * None of the Last Stand levels except Ancient Egypt - Day 24 let the player use free plants such as Iceberg Lettuce.
 * Stallia could also be used until the most recent update.
 * Before the 1.7 update, Brain Busters required all lawn mowers to be un-triggered at the end of the level.
 * Vasebreaker is not a Brain Buster according to PopCap. Instead, it is a separate mini-game.
 * Each world except Frostbite Caves and Neon Mixtape Tour has their own exclusive Brain Buster in the International version.