Pool (known as Backyard Emergency in Plants vs. Zombies: Journey to the West) is the third Adventure Mode area in Plants vs. Zombies. It is the backyard of the house in which the player lives, but unlike the front lawn (where the day and night stages take place) there are six rows on the lawn instead of five. The middle two rows are the pool, which requires the player to plant Lily Pads before most other plants. Before the player buys Pool Cleaners, Lawn Mowers in the pool rows will kill only the first zombie that steps out of the water and then splash into the pool. During the final wave in any pool level, Ducky Tube Zombies of all three types will surface from a 4x2 rectangle at the far right of the pool with or without seaweed on their heads.
Contents
New plants
Because of the watery aspect of this area, some new plants and zombies are encountered. On the defensive side, the Lily Pad was added so non-aquatic plants can be planted in the water, and Tangle Kelp to help defeat aquatic zombies. Also, Squash, Threepeater, Jalapeno, Spikeweed, Torchwood, and Tall-nut are unlocked.
New zombies
- Ducky Tube Zombie (has Conehead and Buckethead counterparts, but are not mentioned in the almanac)
- Snorkel Zombie
- Zomboni
- Zombie Bobsled Team
- Dolphin Rider Zombie
Ducky Tube Zombie and his Conehead and Buckethead variants could be considered the same as their land counterparts, just in the water. Deal with them as you would normally - just with Lily Pads.
Audio and music
Music
Plants vs Zombies Soundtrack Pool Stage
The music of the pool stage (called Watery Graves)
The Pool soundtrack.
Audio
A Zombie splashing into the pool
List of levels
Adventure Mode
Difficulty
Pool is a somewhat easy world, but the second half can be hard for new or inexperienced players, especially Level 3-5 in the DS version. It is harder than the previous world, Night, but easier than Fog.
- Easiest Level: Level 3-1
- Hardest Level: Level 3-7 or Level 3-9 (Level 3-5 in the DS version due to the new Bonus level)
Main Levels
| Level | Plants | Zombies | Flags |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3-1 | Choice |    
|
One |
| 3-2 | Choice |   
|
Two |
| 3-3 | Choice | 
|
Two |
| 3-4 | Choice | 
|
Three |
| 3-5 |    
|
|
Two |
| 3-5 (DS) | Four Two Four
|
|
Zero |
| 3-6 | Choice | 
Summon: |
Two |
| 3-7 | Choice |
Summon: |
Three |
| 3-8 | Choice | 
|
Two |
| 3-9 | Choice |
Summon: |
Three |
| 3-10 |       
|
Summon: |
Three |
Mini-games
| Level | Plants | Zombies | Flags |
|---|---|---|---|
| Big Trouble Little Zombie |
|
|
Three |
| Bobsled Bonanza | Choice | 
|
Four |
| Zombie Nimble Zombie Quick | Choice |
|
Four |
| Last Stand | Choice without     
|
  
|
Five |
| ZomBotany 2 | Choice |      
|
Three |
| Heat Wave | Four Two Four
|
 
|
Zero |
| Buttered Popcorn | Four 
|
|
Two |
Puzzle Mode
| Level | Plants | Zombies | Flags |
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Stand: Pool |   
|
|
Five |
| Last Stand Endless | Choice without
|
     (iPad)
Summon: |
Infinite |
Survival Mode
| Level | Zombies | Flags |
|---|---|---|
| Survival: Pool | 
Summon: |
Five |
| Survival: Pool (Hard) |  
Summon: |
Ten |
| Survival: Endless |
Summon: Console: |
Infinite |
Co-op Mode
| Level | Zombies | Flags |
|---|---|---|
| Co-op Pool |
Summon: |
Three |
| Co-op Hard Pool |
Summon: Console: |
Five |
| Co-op Endless |
Summon: Console: |
Infinite |
Plants vs. Zombies: Journey to the West exclusive (Archived content) (China only)
In addition to the pre-existing ten stages, there were three bonus stages exclusive to Plants vs. Zombies: Journey to the West. They all had an objective to complete. They required gems to unlock or specific fully grown plants in Zen Garden.
| Level | Plants | Zombies | Flags | Objective |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3-11 | Choice with
|
Summoned:
|
Four | Don't spend any sun for 45 seconds |
| 3-12 | Choice with  
|
|
Three | Produce at least 3000 sun |
| 3-13 | Choice with
|
Summoned: |
Four | Never have more than 24 plants |
Strategies
To beat any of the pool levels, the player is recommended to use Lily Pad (unless they are going for the Pool's Closed achievement). The pool offers a lot of new useful plants as well. Use Torchwood to help make your peas deal more damage. Use Tall-nut to stop zombies dead in their tracks. Use Tangle Kelp primarily for the Snorkel Zombie and Dolphin Rider Zombie. You can also put a Squash or a Wall-nut on a Lily Pad, as another cheap alternative. Use Jalapeno or Spikeweed to kill Zomboni. Dolphin Rider Zombies are very tedious, but they can be killed with a Tangle Kelp or blocked by a Tall-nut easily. For more pool strategies, see here.
While Mushrooms retain useless on the first play-through of this world, (due to no Coffee Bean) Puff-shroom can still be used to slow Zombies down by making them eat them. They are free and recharge quickly, however they are not recommended for every level since you may want to bring more powerful plants. You should not use other Mushrooms other than Puff-shroom in this world since they cost sun and do the same thing as Puff-shroom when asleep.
Related achievements
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Trivia
The three Pool ambush zombies together. Note the seaweed around them.
- In the new iOS version, the player will receive the bacon at Level 3-4 instead of the car keys because they already had the keys in 2-2 for the Bonus Games.
- Dancing Zombies will only be able to summon three Backup Dancers, as a fourth would be impossible to summon inside the Pool.
- In the Xbox Live Arcade version, there are no ladders leading to the Pool area, but instead, the zombies destroy the fence.
- If a Ducky Tube Zombie is killed before it enters the pool, it will fall onto the surface of the pool just as a normal zombie will do on the lawn.
- At this point, it loses its ducky tube.
- The pool music is remixed for the music video Zombies on Your Lawn.
- If a Balloon Zombie is shot down by a Cactus or Cattail above the Pool, the zombie will simply disappear, as it has nothing to stay afloat.
- If an Ice-shroom is timed right when the final flag of a level starts, the ambush zombies will not emerge.
- If the player tries to plant a non-aquatic plant in the water without a Lily Pad, a message will come up, saying: "Plant a Lily Pad first". The same thing happens with Cattail.
- The pool is the only area in the game with no canceled mini-games.
- There is a track in Bloons Tower Defense 4 iOS named Monkeys vs. Bloons, a parody of Plants vs. Zombies. This track is based on the Pool levels.
- Like Day, all of the Pool plants reappear in Plants vs. Zombies 2.
- Snorkel Zombie is the only Zombie from this area to return in Plants vs. Zombies 2.
