Gnome Bomb is a mode in Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 and Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville. Its main objective is the plants or zombies must find the Gnome Bomb to destroy the opponents' Garden or Graveyard while preventing the opposing team from doing the same. Both plants and zombies have three bases with the time limit for the game being 15 minutes. The first team to destroy all three enemy bases wins. If time runs out and neither team has succeeded in destroying all three enemy bases, the team that destroyed the most bases wins. If both teams are tied when the times runs out, the match goes into overtime, in which case the first team to plant (not detonate) a Gnome Bomb wins.
On the result screen, if the player's team won, the game will play "Symphony No. 9" by Ludwig van Beethoven, accompanied by a chorus.
If the winning team is the zombies, the chorus will be made of zombie voices, otherwise (in case of a plant victory) there will be a faint sound of Peashooter noises.
The gnome makes several noises, but its mouth does not move.
When acquiring the Gnome Bomb, the player will instantly get healed to full health.
When the Gnome Bomb is being carried, it will have a 1-minute countdown until it explodes, killing the carrier and anyone around after which it will reset to its normal spawn point. This is to prevent the other team from carrying the Gnome to a hard-to-reach-spot and stalling the match.
When acquiring the Gnome Bomb, the carrying player's abilities are disabled until they drop or plant the Gnome Bomb (or until it blows up, in which they are vanquished and cannot use abilities).
In Garden Warfare 2, the use of potted plants and Build-a-Bots are available in this mode and can be planted.
In the original Garden Warfare, getting blown up by the Gnome Bomb in Energy Warp will make the player almost invincible. They can only be vanquished by falling off edges, and the train in Jewel Junction. Going into Energy Warp again will make them able to be hurt normally.
However, the player must be revived for this to happen.
