Popcap’s Latest Game Is Plants Vs. Zombies Vs. Hearthstone

Popcap is taking Plants Vs. Zombies back to its roots with a new mobile strategy game, Plants. Vs. Zombies Heroes: The Lawn of a New Battle, only this time it’s turn-based and plays a lot like Hearthstone.

Instead of gathering sunshine from the field as an ever-advancing horde of zombies closes on your home, in Plants Vs. Zombies Heroes each troop or trick costs sunshine or brains, which increases by one every round.

Basically it’s the mana system that Blizzard’s popular digital trading card uses. It also has a bunch of other Hearthstone-y stuff, like Hero characters with Hero-specific cards and different play styles, deck-building and purchasing card packs for real money.

The major difference between Plants Vs. Zombies Heroes and the game it’s obviously taken some inspiration from is the lane-based playfield. Positioning matters, as whatever you put in one lane is directly opposed by what the enemy places in that same lane. Some troops attack adjacent lanes as well. Some receive bonuses for being placed on elevated lanes, while only a select few can hang out in the water lane.

Whittling down your opponents’ life points has the side effect of increasing their super gauge (the line around the heart) a random amount. Once it’s filled (up to three times per match) the hero performs a super block and gains a special power that can be used instantly or stored for future shenanigans.

So this isn’t Plants Vs. Zombies aping Hearthstone, but rather a best of both worlds sort of scenario. It’s a lane-based digital trading card game for solo or online multiplayer play brimming with PVZ personality.

Plants Vs. Zombies Heroes: Lawn of a New Battle will be released worldwide on iOS and Android soon. Folks with New Zealand iTunes accounts can download and play it for free right now.