Plants vs. Zombies FREE (abbreviated as PvZ FREE, known as Plants vs. Zombies FREE HD on the iPad, abbreviated as PvZ FREE HD, now known just simply as Plants vs. Zombies since November 3, 2017) is a version of Plants vs. Zombies for iOS and Android.
It is essentially the same as the paid versions, except with more ads, more bugs, not including the Buttered Popcorn mini-game (for Android only), many of achievements are missing, and the Survival Mode does not include the Hard Levels. Also, unlike the paid version, the iPhone version also includes Survival Mode, which makes this the first time Survival Mode has ever been playable on iPhone.
Nowadays, support for iPhone 5 or older has been removed, due to issues of compatibility on later versions. This version of the game still works on devices newer than the iPhone 5.
Note: PopCap has devoted enormous effort over the years to bring additional game modes that were once only available on the PC into the iOS and Android platforms. This page will only show the design differences that affect how players would gain access to each game mode, but will not dig into the details of the game modes.
Plants vs. Zombies FREE Adventure Mode level selector (fully completed)-2
Level selector (with both Adventure 1 and Adventure 2 fully completed)
The Adventure Mode differs from the old versions in that it features a level selector, allowing players to select any previously unlocked levels and replay those levels. Noticeable design features of the level selector include:
The level selector consists of five tabs representing the areas: Day, Night, Pool, Fog, and Roof, which are inherited from the UI of the previous Quick Play mode.
Each level consists of a thumbnail representing the level, and an icon representing the plants or items obtained from that level.
The first, third, sixth, and eighth levels will show the new zombie encountered on the thumbnail. (The only exception is Level 1-1 which shows a Flag Zombie, which was first encountered in Level 1-2)
The second, fourth, seventh, and ninth levels will show the regular Zombie on the thumbnail.
Plants obtained after each level are shown under the level thumbnails.
Items and Notes are represented by a smiley Sunflower icon.
Locked levels in Adventure 1
Locked levels in Adventure 2
In Adventure 1, for the levels players haven't unlocked yet, the plants and zombies are represented by an outline filled with black color instead. But in Adventure 2, the plants and zombies are visible for the locked levels, since the player has encountered the plants and zombies before.
Adventure 1 has a blue sky background, while Adventure 2 has a purple sky background.
Clicking on a locked level or trying to start a new level with 2 saved progresses will emit a sound identical to the sound when Jack-in-the-Box Zombie opens its box.
Players at one area can preview the levels in the next area at furthest. For example, if a player is currently on a Day level, then he/she can preview the Night area levels, but not further areas.
The Adventure 2 button is added to the level selector once the player unlocks Level 5-1. The Adventure 2 mode becomes playable once the player finishes Adventure 1. Players can switch back and forth.
In Adventure 2 most levels have increased difficulty (extra flags, additional zombie types, more dangerous zombies appearing at higher frequencies, etc.), and Crazy Dave chooses three plants for the player.
Once the player finishes Adventure 2, the level indicator on the main screen will stay as "Day Level 1" and will not change at all, regardless of which level the player plays again.
The UI initially shows buttons to Mini-games and Puzzle Mode. Once the player finishes Adventure Mode for the first time, Survival Mode is unlocked, and the button becomes visible.
Mini-games was first unlocked in Level 2-2. Once unlocked, Crazy Dave will award you $10,000 and forces you to buy the first mini-game (ZomBotany on iPhone and iPod / iPhone and iPod touch / Android, or Slot Machine on iPad).
Unlike in the PC version in which getting trophies for earlier levels can unlock latter levels, players have to purchase Mini-game packs to unlock and play the mini games. See Crazy Dave's Twiddydinkies#Mini-games for more details.
Similarly, players have to go to purchase the Puzzle Mode game packs to unlock and play the levels. See Crazy Dave's Twiddydinkies#Puzzle mode for more details.
Survival Mode was unlocked once the player finishes Adventure Mode for the first time.
The levels are unlocked sequentially, the same as in the PC version. However, there is only one level (Survival: Day) unlocked by default, as opposed to three levels on PC.
The Zen Garden allows you to take care of plants in a stress-free environment and make money. It is a subset of the Zen Garden in the PC version (with Tree of Wisdom absent). Some features unique to the iOS and Android versions are:
Crazy Dave's Twiddydinkies has four presents purchasable. Each present is available once per 24 hours, and can add a new plant to the garden.
Stinky the Snail collects money for the player when he / she is away from the garden.
Here's a bonus game to get your day started. Wanna play?
”
—A popup for the Bonus Game on the first bonus games
Bonus Games
There are five bonus games available per 24 hours, each of which is unlocked by watching an advertisement. Each game is one of the Mini-games or Puzzle Mode levels, or Level 4-5 (without Crazy Dave's speech). Players thus can earn trophies before purchasing the corresponding game packs. This mode is unlocked after finishing Level 1-5.
Unlike in playing regular levels, if the player quits a bonus game without finishing, the progress cannot be restored, and the chance of playing the game on that day is completely wasted.
Game icons[]
1st iOS/Android icon
2nd iOS/Android icon
3rd iOS/Android icon
4th Android icon
5th Android Icon
Bugs and differences[]
This version includes many differences, and a large amount of bugs.
A player trying to access the credits without the music video after they tapped the "Roll Credits!" button below the surrender note
There are many more ads in this version to make up for it not costing money. Pop-up ads appear in-between and when starting levels, and there are banner ads on the main menu. Ads can be bypassed by disabling WiFi.
On the iPad version there are square ads on the screen when receiving a plant or item as well.
There is an in-app purchase to remove all ads from the game that costs $2.99. While buying the paid version is cheaper than this, the paid version has one pop-up ad when starting the app, does not have Survival Mode if using an iPhone, does not have the newer version of Quick Play, and the player will have to restart their progress, so it may be a better deal. Not to mention, it's a waste of money to buy it anyway since you can bypass ads by turning off your Wifi.
However, you can also watch ads manually to earn rewards (such as free coins, the rake, an explode-o-nut, and so on), which requires WiFi.
When the player does not have enough coins to buy an item, if they tap "Get More Coins", it will take them to the ad removal in-app purchase instead.
"The Zombies are coming" chime is sometimes absent.
When the chime does play, sometimes it is just played halfway through. Instead of "The Zombies are coming", it says "The Zombies a-".
Sometimes the background music stops after the user switches screens or returns from watching an advertisement video, unless the player re-adjusts the music volume through Settings or in-game Menu. This may happen during gameplay, on the main screen, on the level selection pages (Adventure Mode or More Ways to Play), in the Zen Garden, or in the Suburban Almanac. The player will sometimes have to adjust the volume multiple times in order for it to be fixed.
On the iOS version, there are sometimes two or more signs for the player on the Zombies Killed pile, one always stays at the bottom and reads 0.
The leaderboard names are written in all caps, without spaces, and sometimes missing words altogether.
There are also no icons for the leaderboards.
The Peking Express achievement does not show up in Game Center. However, the leaderboard does.
When updating to version 1.9, the player's Zen Garden progress and Zombies Killed pile will be reset, and all Survival levels will become locked, including the default level (Survival: Day).
The dedicated "Horde" version of each track in the game (which adds more percussion, and in Moongrains' case, adds a new melody) does not actually play when a zombie horde approaches (like the paid version).
You could sometimes avoid purchasing the ZomBotany minigame, allowing you to have a small coin boost in the early game. This has likely been patched, since the person who added this was unable to replicate it.
Most "chimes" such as the flag chime are cut in half if any other sound plays while they are playing.
The winning music that is supposed to play when the player gets a new plant is absent most of the time when a new plant is picked up.
Fixed bugs[]
Despite adding a ton of bugs, Plants vs. Zombies FREE also fixed some from the paid versions.
The Zen Garden animations are no longer buggy on the iPad version (this was since fixed in the paid version as well).
Playing on iOS 9 will not allow text to change to "<MISSING>" (this was since fixed in the paid version as well).
Before version 1.9, coins had different values in this version. They were all 10% of their previous values, meaning a gold coin, which is normally worth 50 coins, was now worth 5.
There was an oversight in which the 200,000 coins players usually start with in the iOS versions was not adjusted, therefore the player starts the game with enough coins to purchase every item in the game at least once, and a lot more left over to purchase expendable items again. As a result, there was no reason to work to collect coins in this version at all.
The Coin Packs purchasable in the iOS and Android versions were also not adjusted, meaning that even if the above issue was not in existence, the smallest coin pack would be enough coins to buy everything as well.
These issues have been corrected in version 1.9 as players now start with 2,000 coins and all prices and coin values are corrected to their original state from the paid versions.
Version History[]
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iPhone and iPod / iPhone and iPod touch[]
1.0
November 13, 2014
1.0.6
January 27, 2015
Greetings horticultural heroes! We’ve made some behind-the-scenes improvements to help protect your brains. As always, thanks for playing.
1.9.11
July 18, 2016
Greetings zombie zappers! We’ve made some behind-the-scenes improvements to enhance your zombie-battling fun. Now you can earn free Rakes and bonus Lawnmowers to help protect your brains. As always, thanks for playing!
1.9.12
August 1, 2016
Greetings horticultural heroes! We’ve made some behind-the-scenes improvements to help protect your brains. As always, thanks for playing.
1.9.15
February 13, 2017
Greetings horticultural heroes! We’ve made some behind-the-scenes improvements to help protect your brains. As always, thanks for playing.
1.21
March 22, 2017
Hey, zombie zappers! Get ready to have a blast in our latest update. Now you can blow up a group of zombie invaders by activating Explode-o-nut in the middle of any game. Just place it anywhere on the lawn and watch as it rolls into a crowd of brain-thirsty opponents. Boom!
Thanks for playing. Please be sure to rate us after each update.
2.0.00
November 2, 2017
Greetings, horticultural heroes! Are you looking for more ways to play? Bonus Games are now just a tap away! From Wall-nut Bowling to Vase Breaking, you can now play and master our myriad of madcap mini-games right from the home screen.
We’ve also made some behind-the-scenes updates to protect your brains. As always, thanks for playing.
2.1.00
December 14, 2017
Greetings zombie zappers! We’ve made some behind-the-scenes improvements to enhance your zombie-battling fun.
2.1.10
December 22, 2017
Greetings zombie zappers! We’ve made some behind-the-scenes improvements to enhance your zombie-battling fun.
2.2.0
March 12, 2018
Hey, smarty plants! We’ve made some important updates to improve your game and keep your garden growing. Thanks for playing.
2.3.10
May 24, 2018
Greetings zombie zappers! We’ve made some behind-the-scenes improvements to enhance your zombie-battling fun.
2.4.0
December 19, 2018
Hello, smarty plants! Your zombie-zapping experience will be better than ever with fun improvements, like:
A redesigned home screen: Find your favorite content or game modes faster than ever
Level replays: Go back and play your favorite levels - through day, night, fog and more - with a single tap using our new level selector
Optimizations to the game to support iPhone XS and XS Max
We've also made some behind-the-scenes updates to protect your brains. As always, thanks for playing.
iPad[]
1.1
November 13, 2014
1.1.6
January 27, 2015
Greetings horticultural heroes! We’ve made some behind-the-scenes improvements to help protect your brains. As always, thanks for playing.
1.1.7
February 12, 2015
Greetings horticultural heroes! We’ve made some behind-the-scenes improvements to help protect your brains. As always, thanks for playing.
1.9.9
July 18, 2016
Greetings zombie zappers! We’ve made some behind-the-scenes improvements to enhance your zombie-battling fun. Now you can earn free Rakes and bonus Lawnmowers to help protect your brains. As always, thanks for playing!
1.9.12
February 13, 2017
Greetings horticultural heroes! We’ve made some behind-the-scenes improvements to help protect your brains. As always, thanks for playing.
1.19
March 22, 2017
Hey, zombie zappers! Get ready to have a blast in our latest update. Now you can blow up a group of zombie invaders by activating Explode-o-nut in the middle of any game. Just place it anywhere on the lawn and watch as it rolls into a crowd of brain-thirsty opponents. Boom!
Thanks for playing. Please be sure to rate us after each update.
2.0.00
November 3, 2017
Greetings, horticultural heroes! Are you looking for more ways to play? Bonus Games are now just a tap away! From Wall-nut Bowling to Vase Breaking, you can now play and master our myriad of madcap mini-games right from the home screen.
We’ve also made some behind-the-scenes updates to protect your brains. As always, thanks for playing.
2.0.10
November 11, 2017
Greetings zombie zappers! We’ve made some behind-the-scenes improvements to enhance your zombie-battling fun.
2.1.00
December 14, 2017
Greetings zombie zappers! We’ve made some behind-the-scenes improvements to enhance your zombie-battling fun.
2.2.0
March 13, 2018
Hey, smarty plants! We’ve made some important updates to improve your game and keep your garden growing. Thanks for playing.
2.3.10
May 24, 2018
Greetings zombie zappers! We’ve made some behind-the-scenes improvements to enhance your zombie-battling fun.
2.4.0
December 18, 2018
Hello, smarty plants! Your zombie-zapping experience will be better than ever with fun improvements, like:
A redesigned home screen: Find your favorite content or game modes faster than ever
Level replays: Go back and play your favorite levels - through day, night, fog and more - with a single tap using our new level selector
Optimizations to the game to support iPhone XS and XS Max
We've also made some behind-the-scenes updates to protect your brains. As always, thanks for playing.
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