Plants Vs. Zombies 2: It’s About Time has arrived, and despite the glowing reviews and praise for its relaxed attitude towards micro-transactions, folks are worried about the whole “free-to-play” aspect reaching into their pockets and taking all of their money away. You don’t have to be that person.
Plants Vs. Zombies 2’s micro-transactions were built with the novice casual in mind — folks that couldn’t make it through the game without a little help. You don’t need any help. You’ve got strategy vids on YouTube, and this handy set of tips to keep your wallet in your pants.
Believe In Yourself
Remember back when you were a little kid taking on a project you were unsure you could handle, and people would tell you to believe in yourself? That was bullshit. Plants Vs. Zombies 2 is when you really need to believe in yourself. You don’t need crutches. You have the skills and all the tools you need to triumph over every level.
It sounds corny, but it’s an important factor in getting through any free-to-play game cash-free. the ridiculously popular Candy Crush Saga has made millions on self-doubt. They’ll toss you couple of easy stages, building your confidence, and then drop an impossible-seeming stage down, shaking your confidence. One minute you’re ready to kick Candy Crush arse, the next you’re reaching into your wallet to buy magical candy that doesn’t exist.
Plants Vs. Zombies 2 gets hard, yes. That’s why you need to…
Rise To The Challenge
In the old days, back before all of these newfangled free-to-play games, we had a different way of dealing with a spike in difficulty. Instead of tossing money at it, we just kept playing until we got it right.
Strange as it may seem, that’s a foreign concept to a vast majority of free-to-play gamers. They’ve been conditioned to reach for the “STORE” button when the going gets tough. There’s an entire industry banking on their spinelessness. Don’t give them the satisfaction.
You’re no sheep. You’re a lion rampant, ready to tear your claws into any problem, grabbing it by the throat with your powerful jaws and shaking it until it falls at your feet, nothing more than a rapidly cooling pile of torn meat and crushed bones.
The analogy may have gotten away from me, but you get the point.
Ignore The Store
Why struggle through progressively tougher levels with the same boring set of plants, when you can spend three or four dollars on more powerful ones? A good question, to which there are several answers.
For one, most of those plants (all but one) can be unlocked through normal play. If you pay for one before encountering during the game’s natural progression, you’ll never notice — nice of PopCap to spare us that embarrassment — so you’ll just have to take my word for it. I’ll tell you what — if you complete every level in the game and don’t have all of the plants save one, then you can drop some cash.
The same thing goes for items in the “Upgrades” tab. They’re waiting for you on the playfields — don’t force it.
As for coins…
Power-Ups Are Fun! Don’t Use Them
The three new power-ups introduced in Plants Vs. Zombies 2 are total game-changers, kick-arse moves capable of obliterated large numbers of zombies from the playfield entirely. Don’t get used to using them.
They are rollerskates, a means to breeze effortlessly though seemingly impossible challenges, and if you spend your entire life in rollerskates, you’re screwed when it comes time to walk. Instead of learning the strategies and techniques necessary to defend your time-displaced lawns from the oncoming horde, you’re learning how to spend coins. Coins that run out and need replenishing. You’re creating a dependency. that’s bad.
The ability to pinch zombies heads off, electrocute them with your fingertip or simply flick them into the air and off the screen is incredibly handy and even more tempting. If you really must use them, try setting limits — you must attempt the level X number of times before resorting to endorsed cheatery. Not only will it make you a better Plants Vs. Zombies player, the slow trickle of gold generated through normal play should be enough to sustain a reigned-in habit.
Have Fun, Dammit
Relax. Plants Vs. Zombies 2 is a game — a damn fine game at that — and you’re meant to enjoy it. If you find yourself getting frustrated, take a step back before you reach into your pocket. Make a sandwich. Go see a movie. Maybe go into work, see what they’ve got going on there. Pass your iPad or iPhone to a friend. At the very least you’ll be able to share your frustration, and sharing is caring.
Have Plants Vs. Zombies 2 tips of your own? Share them below.
Comments
6 responses to “Tips For Playing Plants Vs. Zombies 2 Without Paying”
+1 to article. Would read again. Well. Except I’ve already read it. So probably wouldn’t read again.
Only criticism is the final point about maybe going in to work. That’s some reckless advice and I can’t endorse it.
Cool, I would add though that if you like it, spend some money on it! You don’t need it to win maybe but if those developers made a good game, then support them.
I didn’t find the game unreasonably challenging. If I ever got in a jam, I always had enough coins to get by, and this usually only happened with some of the tougher challenges. The only real challenge I’d say is a test of patience, but even then that’s not so much of a problem if you take a break every now and then to ease the repetition.
I don’t really want to spend anything. As much as I enjoyed the game, I can’t really say I’m in favour of freemium models. Ironically, the way the game pads itself out for the non-paying player, meant that by the time I was done I had no reason to buy anything. Outside of the occasional dabble in challenge modes, I simply have no incentive to continue playing.
… that’s a lion couchant.
It’s weird, whenever a game like PvZ2 comes out that doesn’t feel like its psychologically manipulating me to buy their stupid crap, I actually feel more inclined to give them money just for respecting me as someone who enjoys fun games. Good onya PopCap, now don’t Candy Crush-ify Peggle 2 pls (YOU AND I KNOW HOW EASY THAT WOULD BE >:()
Any word on release dates for anything other than iOS? There exists one iPod Touch at my workplace, but I’d rather hold off until I can play it on my own device