10 Video Games That Had No Right Being This Good - Commenter's Edition

10. Plants Vs. Zombies

The first time players unleashed a jalapeño pepper and burned through an entire row of zombies in one swift strike, they saw what a fun and absurd experience Plants vs Zombies could really be. How, though, did the premise of defending your lawn against zombies using plants work as well as it did?

Zombies, for some years, were an overused, shambling trope that appeared in every other game, and Plants vs. Zombies seemed like a shark-jumping silly moment too far. As it was, though, there was method to PopCap’s weirdness: The finely-tuned and surprisingly tactical gameplay, not to mention the array of modes on offer, made it a fun distraction for tower defense newcomers and a challenge for genre veterans alike.

Attempting to reach higher waves in survival mode was a task that humbled many, and demonstrated the deviousness of the title’s design. Plants vs Zombies went on to be ported to a wide array of different devices, and spawned TPS spin-offs in Plants vs Zombies: Battle For Neighborville and the Garden Warfare series. They, too, are a riot of fun, and with their wide variety of character classes, offer more depth than their silly aesthetic would suggest.