Penny's Pursuit

For the Chinese version of the game mode, see Penny's Pursuit (Chinese version).

Penny's Pursuit is a game mode in Plants vs. Zombies 2, which was released alongside the 7.9.1 update. It is a game mode that appears between the Adventure Mode and Arena icons. It was also released in Plants vs. Zombies 2 (Chinese version), which was released alongside the 2.5.0 update. This mode requires the player to have Fuel to be able to play. Fuel can be bought with gems, or recharged overtime. Fuel usually is maxed at 15, but if you buy more, you can go over 15. The player can also choose to watch ads to gain 5 fuel. It requires an internet connection to play and is unlocked after the completion of Wild West - Day 16.

Gameplay

In Penny's Pursuit, there are 3 difficulties to choose from for a level: Mild (easy), Spicy (medium), and Extra Hot (hard). To start a level, the player needs at least 5 Fuel. Once loaded into a level at any difficulty, the player can select Perks to use in the level. The player can choose one Perk for free, but additional Perks will cost gems to use in the level (with 5 gems cost for each perk). Playing a level requires 5 fuel at any difficulty.

Depending on the difficulty, the zombies available and the objectives the player can complete may change. Also, harder difficulties can take away certain benefits and zombies have stronger health and faster eating rate than usual, the level of difficulty can also decrease the number of lawn mowers, the number of seed slots, how often sun drops from the sky, how much sun you start within a level, the amount of Plant Food you start within a level, the maximum amount of sun you can bank up, and preparation time before the first wave starts. Once the player selects their level, difficulty, and Perks for the level, they're able to play levels that are in different styles: normal zombie attacks, Arena style levels, Last Stand levels, timed levels and mini-games. There are also bonus objectives which the player can complete to upgrade their Perks. Once a level is completed, the player can receive rewards and ZPS Points, which is used to fuel a meter to fight Dr. Zomboss and a specific Zombot, which will be hinted within the back of the map via a podium from the world.

Mild (easy) difficulty levels fill up your ZPS by 20%, spicy (medium) difficulty levels fill it up by 25%, and extra hot (hard) difficulty levels fill it up by 30%. Once your fuel meter reaches 100%, you can fight Dr. Zomboss (unless you have already fought him today, in which case you must wait until the next day) up to 3 times for a chance to claim rewards. Any excess ZPS carries on to the next day after you have fought Dr. Zomboss 3 times. ZPS will not increase if you try to gain more after reaching 100% (or higher).

There are different types of Penny's Pursuit events: regular events that have 5 levels, each varying from a random world and lasts for 1 week, special events that last for 2 weeks and have 10 levels each varying from a random world as well as sometimes adding event zombies, and worldly events which last about three weeks to a month and usually consist of all the levels from a world, excluding the Zomboss battle. The amount of rewards you get also varies: In regular events, you get 3 types of rewards upon the completion of a level:

Coins (only achieved by completing mild levels)
Seed packets for the plant of this week's event (can be 10, 15 or 20, and is achieved by completing spicy or extra hot levels)
Gems (4 and can be achieved by winning spicy or extra hot levels)

In special events, the rewards are the same but starting from level 6 all rewards go back to what it was for level 1. In worldly events, the seed packet reward changes from one plant to another depending on how many plants and how many levels are featured.

List of Events

Event Name	Schedule	Zomboss Grand Prize	New Zombie(s)	Type of event
Rome Invades! (Soft release only)	February 7, 2020 - February 12, 2020	N/A		Regular event
Roamin' Romans (Soft release only)	February 12, 2020 - February 19, 2020	N/A	N/A	Regular event
Rome, Rome on the Range	February 19, 2020 - February 26, 2020			Regular event
Iron Age Antics	February 26, 2020 - March 4, 2020			Regular event
Imperial Entanglements	March 4, 2020 - March 18, 2020			Special event
Vidi, Vici, BRAINZ!	March 18, 2020 - March 25, 2020			Regular event
Plants vs. Romans	March 25, 2020 - April 1, 2020			Regular event
Legions of the Undead	April 1, 2020 - April 15, 2020		N/A	Special event
Here Come Some Roman Zombies!	April 15, 2020 - April 22, 2020		N/A	Regular event
Rome Sweet Rome	April 22, 2020 - April 29, 2020		N/A	Regular event
Divide by Nero	April 29, 2020 - May 6, 2020		N/A	Regular event
Are You Not Entertained?!	May 6, 2020 - May 13, 2020		N/A	Regular event
Romeward Bound	May 13, 2020 - May 20, 2020		N/A	Regular event
Back to Far Future	May 20, 2020 - June 17, 2020		N/A	Worldly event
Bad Hair Day	June 17, 2020 - June 24, 2020			Regular event
Caesar vs Salad	June 24, 2020 - July 1, 2020			Regular event
Darker Ages	July 1, 2020 - July 22, 2020		N/A	Worldly event
Column Like You See 'Em	July 22, 2020 - July 29, 2020		N/A	Regular event
Later, Gladiator	July 29, 2020 - August 5, 2020		N/A	Regular event
Ciao Time	August 5, 2020 - August 12, 2020		N/A	Regular event
Plunder the Pirate Seas	August 12, 2020 - September 2, 2020		N/A	Worldly event
ZCorp Incorporated, Inc.	September 2, 2020 - September 9, 2020			Regular event
ZCorp is Hiring!	September 9, 2020 - September 16, 2020		N/A	Regular event
Promoting Zynergy	September 16, 2020 - September 23, 2020		N/A	Regular event
Stalk Options	September 23, 2020 - September 30, 2020		N/A	Regular event
Lost City of Doom	September 30, 2020 - October 21, 2020		N/A	Worldly event
Big Little Liars	October 21, 2020 - October 28, 2020		N/A	Regular event
Exec VP of ABCDEFG	October 28, 2020 - November 4, 2020		N/A	Regular event
Mergers, Acquisitions and BRAINZ	November 4, 2020 - November 11, 2020		N/A	Regular event
Think Outside the Lawn	November 11, 2020 - November 18, 2020			Regular event
Agile Methodologist	November 18, 2020 - November 25, 2020		N/A	Regular event
Plant Layoffs	November 25, 2020 - December 1, 2020		N/A	Regular event
Field Promotion	December 2, 2020 - December 9, 2020		N/A	Regular event
Cultivating Talent	December 9, 2020 - December 16, 2020		N/A	Regular event
Shattering Grass Ceilings	December 16, 2020 - December 23, 2020		N/A	Regular event
Wild Wild West	December 23, 2020 - January 13, 2021		N/A	Worldly event
Planted Earth	January 13, 2021 - January 20, 2021		N/A	Regular event
Dew or Dew Not	January 20, 2021 - January 27, 2021		N/A	Regular event
Fruit, Forward!	January 27, 2021 - February 3, 2021		N/A	Regular event
Stamen Alive	February 3, 2021 - February 10, 2021		N/A	Regular event
Cherry Potter	February 10, 2021 - February 17, 2021		N/A	Regular event
A Cry for Helpdesk	February 17, 2021 - February 24, 2021			Regular event
Technical Difficulties	February 24, 2021 - March 3, 2021		N/A	Regular event
Just Dropping In	March 3, 2021 - March 10, 2021		N/A	Regular event
Helpdesk Heroics	March 10, 2021 - March 17, 2021		N/A	Regular event
Spring Into Action	March 17, 2021 - March 24, 2021		N/A	Regular event
Sprouting Nonsense	March 24, 2021 - March 31, 2021		N/A	Regular event
Budding Notions	March 31, 2021 - April 7, 2021		N/A	Regular event
Blooming Dales	April 7, 2021 - April 14, 2021		N/A	Regular event
Plow Through it	April 14, 2021 - April 21, 2021		N/A	Regular event
Till Next Time	April 21, 2021 - April 28, 2021		N/A	Regular event
Seed Fund	April 28, 2021 - May 5, 2021		N/A	Regular event
Hoppy Birthdayz!	May 5, 2021 - May 12, 2021		N/A	Regular event
Tree, Two, One...	May 12, 2021 - May 19, 2021		N/A	Regular event
Later, Irrigator	May 19, 2021 - May 26, 2021		N/A	Regular event
Jurassic Marsh Madness	May 26, 2021 - June 16, 2021		N/A	Worldly event
The Ungrateful Undead	June 16, 2021 - June 23, 2021		N/A	Regular event
Yew Too	June 23, 2021 - June 30, 2021		N/A	Regular event
The Phat Beetles	June 30, 2021 - July 7, 2021		N/A	Regular event
Kinder Garden Co-op	July 7, 2021 - July 14, 2021		N/A	Regular event
Total Reed Call	July 14, 2021 - July 21, 2021		N/A	Regular event
Raw Meal	July 21, 2021 - July 28, 2021		N/A	Regular event
Cone and the Rhubarbarian	July 28, 2021 - August 4, 2021		N/A	Regular event
The Germinator	August 4, 2021 - August 11, 2021		N/A	Regular event
Commango	August 11, 2021 - August 18, 2021		N/A	Regular event
Perma-Frostbite Caves - Part 1	August 18, 2021 - September 1, 2021		N/A	Worldly event
Sage Advise	September 1, 2021 - September 8, 2021		N/A	Regular event
Stem Sells	September 8, 2021 - September 15, 2021		N/A	Regular event
Perma-Frostbite Caves - Part 2	September 15, 2021 - September 29, 2021		N/A	Worldly event
Chairman of the Bored	September 29, 2021 - October 6, 2021			Regular event
Stool Pitchin'	October 6, 2021 - October 13, 2021		N/A	Regular event
Rat Racer	October 13, 2021 - October 20, 2021		N/A	Regular event
ZCorps Flower	October 20, 2021 - October 27, 2021		N/A	Regular event
Crash Course	October 27, 2021 - November 3, 2021		N/A	Regular event
Hot Seat	November 3, 2021 - November 10, 2021		N/A	Regular event
Chapter 11	November 10, 2021 - November 17, 2021		N/A	Regular event
The Hungry Games	November 17, 2021 - November 24, 2021		N/A	Regular event
Food Feud!	November 24, 2021 - December 1, 2021		N/A	Regular event
Food Coma	December 1, 2021 - December 8, 2021		N/A	Regular event
A December to Dismember	December 8, 2021 - December 15, 2021		N/A	Regular event
Hoppy Holidays	December 15, 2021 - December 22, 2021		N/A	Regular event
Back to Far Future II	December 22, 2021 - January 12, 2022		N/A	Worldly event
Kaleidoscopic Vision	January 12, 2022 - January 19, 2022		N/A	Regular event
Pop Your Collards	January 19, 2022 - January 26, 2022		N/A	Regular event
Root Cause	January 26, 2022 - February 2, 2022		N/A	Regular event
Darkerer Ages	February 2, 2022 - February 23, 2022		N/A	Worldly event
Soil and Water	February 23, 2022 - March 2, 2022		N/A	Regular event
Salt and Peppers	March 2, 2022 - March 9, 2022		N/A	Regular event
Bread and Butternut	March 9, 2022 - March 16, 2022		N/A	Regular event
Pirate Seas Rising	March 16, 2022 - April 6, 2022		N/A	Worldly event
Roses are Rad	April 6, 2022 - April 13, 2022		N/A	Regular event
Violets are Cute	April 13, 2022 - April 20, 2022		N/A	Regular event
Strawberries Aren't Berries	April 20, 2022 - April 27, 2022		N/A	Regular event
Tomatoes are Fruit	April 27, 2022 - May 4, 2022		N/A	Regular event
Not All Oranges are Orange	May 4, 2022 - May 11, 2022		N/A	Regular event
And Carrots are Roots	May 11, 2022 - May 18, 2022		N/A	Regular event
Sticks and Stones	May 18, 2022 - May 25, 2022		N/A	Regular event
Today's Horror-scope	May 25, 2022 - June 1, 2022		N/A	Regular event

For upcoming events in Penny's Pursuit, see Plants vs. Zombies 2/Upcoming content

Strategies

When playing spicy and extra hot levels, there are chances that you will lose due to the zombie's health being increased and benefits being taken away. Don't try to do spicy and extra hot levels if you have low-level plants or feeling that you can lose, doing it can result you in losing the level and as such also losing fuel. If you try to do these levels then try to use explosive plants such as Primal Potato Mine, Explode-O-Nut or Teleportato Mine to easily deplete their health as well as clear crowds. Using these in mild levels can easily kill them, while using them in extra hot levels requires 1, 2 or more explosions to kill the zombies. You can use some effective instant-kill plants such as Grimrose, Olive Pit, Imp Pear and Enchant-mint to take out large groups of zombies.

Penny's Pursuit Zomboss battle

Bowling Bulb, preferably level 3 or above, can be very effective for these battles when boosted. The bulbs will bounce through the zombie horde and almost always hit the boss.

Tile Turnip can be effective in vastly boosting plant food damage output.

Mild Difficulty

Always prioritize the boss. As mentioned before, Bowling Bulb, preferably level 3 or above, can be very effective for these battles when boosted. Tile Turnip can be effective in vastly boosting plant food damage output. Spam Moonflower or Sun-Shroom in the last stand to get large amounts of sun for a rather cheep price. Banana Launcher can combine with Arma-mint and do a whopping 9600 damage to the boss, quickly depleting health bars. Always use "Boss Buster" perk as you have infinite lawn mowers in this difficulty. Pokra can be useful in all columns closest to the boss, as they constantly deal unavoidable damage. Headbutter Lettuce combined with Enforce Mint (preferably level 2 or higher) can pack a good punch. Make sure that you are making full use of Enforce Mint (i.e. waiting until it fully expires before placing down a new one). This is especially useful against the Dark Dragon. However, be careful of Chicken Wrangler Zombie and Weasel Hoarder as if they are killed by a lawn mower, they will release Zombie Chicken and Ice Weasel respectively, causing the loss of the level. This is because though you have infinite lawn mowers, new lawn mowers take a few seconds to respawn.

Spicy Difficulty

A mix of damage to the zombies and the boss must be done. Full lane plants, like Shadow Peashooter are easily capable of this, however, it will not work if the zombies get too aggressive as the shadow peashooters will become unpowered. Pea Vine, Threepeater, Torchwood, and Appease-mint together can easily defeat the boss on higher levels, and even stunlock him at mastery.

Extra Hot Difficulty

Extra hot is very, very hard. Plants such as Caulipower or Zoybean Pod should be used to get an army against Zomboss. One main plant should be used as damage to zomboss. Turkey-pult supported by modifications such as Arma-mint and Pokra without any problem, unless the level does not allow it. Additionally, in versions 9.3.1 and earlier, it can win the whole boss fight on its own. It's recommended if you have Turkey-pult to not immediately update your game, so tofu turkeys do not get eaten by Zomboss.

Gallery

Plants vs. Zombies Wiki has a gallery for Penny's Pursuit.

Visit this page to see it.

In other languages

Language	Name	Description
English	Penny's Pursuit
French	La course-poursuite de Penny
German	Penny-Jagd
Italian	Ricerca di Penny
Brazilian Portuguese	Perseguição da Penny
Spanish	Búsqueda de Penny

Trivia

The lawn's melting clocks are a reference to the painting The Persistence of Memory by Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dalí.
The icon of Penny's Pursuit was reused from an unused world Time Twister, which was hinted to have been the final world that contains gimmicks from all others, before it was replaced by Modern Day.
The logo of Penny's Pursuit picture is similar to the logo of Back to the Future.
If the player fails a bonus objective they won't fail the level, they just won't get the award for the objective.
If the player exits a level, the "THE ZOMBIES ATE YOUR BRAINS" screen will show up, despite the zombies not eating the player's brains yet.
Levels that take place in the exclusive Penny's Pursuit lawn reuse Modern Day's music.
The background for this game mode's exclusive zombies' almanac entries is the same as the background for the premium plant entries.
This is the only mode in the game to have gems drop, but it can only be achieved by playing boss fights and reaching the Bonus Prize Phase.
In the Plunder the Pirate Seas event, even though the location was Pirate Seas, the music was Modern Day.
In Worldly events, the health of zombies in each difficulty mode is much different: Mild has level 5 health zombies instead of level 1, Spicy has level 8 health zombies instead of level 4, and Extra Hot has level 11 health zombies instead of level 7.
During the launch of the Stalk Options event, on devices still using the 8.3.1 update, the name of the event was <Missing RIFT_TITLE_TEXT_25>, which is due to a missing string. It was fixed shortly after the launch.
The Zomboss podium for Lost City of Doom appears to be Pirate Seas, even though the boss fight is Zombot Aerostatic Gondola and it is supposed to be a Lost City podium.
In Darker Ages' advertisement, there is a "dark_armor4" in the ad, which was a removed Brickhead variant in Dark Ages.
Darker Ages' Zomboss fight is the first (and so far only) one to have multiple seed slots pre-selected.
When Hoppy Birthdayz was launched, it gave Grapeshot seed packets instead of Bombegranate seed packets. This was changed a day after launch.
At 31 levels, Jurassic Marsh Madness has had the most levels of any event so far.
Some levels are replicas of adventure levels, like example: Level 2 of The Hungry Games event is a replica of Pirate Seas - Day 26 as it has 4 waves, a Jolly Roger Zombie appearing in the third wave and only rows 1 and 5 have planks. The only difference is that the level contains Roman Zombies.
When Darkerer Ages was launched, it gave Pyre Vine seed packets instead of Wasabi Whip, Headbutter Lettuce, or Snap-Pea seed packets. This was fixed a day after launch.
The shark zombot is the only zombot that has not been featured in this gamemode

Penny's Pursuit references

Many of Penny Pursuit's event names are references or puns.
- The event name "Rome, Rome on the Range" is a pun of "Home on the Range," a classic cowboy song, sometimes called the "unofficial anthem" of the American West.
- "Plants vs. Romans" is an obvious nod to the series.
- "Rome Sweet Rome" is a pun of the phrase "home sweet home."
- "Divide by Nero" is a portmanteau of the phrase "divide by zero," a division where the divisor (denominator) is zero and Nero, who was the fifth Roman emperor and the last emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty.
- "Back to Far Future" is a reference to the Back to the Future franchise.
  - Likewise, "Back to Far Future II" also references to the sequel Back to the Future Part II.
- "Bad Hair Day" means a day on which everything seems to go wrong, characterized as a day on which one's hair is particularly unmanageable. It also references to Zombie Medusa, who made her debut in this event.
- "Caesar vs Salad" references to the caesar salad. It is also references to Roman Caesar Zombie, who made debut in this event.
- "Column Like You See 'Em" is a reference to the mini-game with the same name from the original game.
- "Lost City of Doom" is a reference to the 1984 movie Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
- Many of the events involving ZCorp zombies have their names are business and corporate-related.
- "Hoppy Birthdayz!" started on the franchise's 12th anniversary, which is May 5th.
- "Cherry Potter" is a reference to the Harry Potter series.
- "The Phat Beetles" is a pun of the English rock band named The Beatles and Phat Beet.
- "The Germinator" is a portmanteau of the 1984 movie The Terminator and "germinate," which is a process by which an organism grows from a seed or spore.
- "The Hungry Games" is a reference to The Hunger Games series.
- "A December to Dismember" is a reference to the Christmas album A December to Remember.