Garden Locations
Pirate Ship Garden
Located on the deck of the pirate ship, this Garden can be very tough to hold down, despite having potentially six Potted Plants within close proximity of it. With five gangways [1] leading directly to the ship’s deck, there’s no way for even a full team of plants to account for them all. The stern of the ship [2] will require regular attention, as there is only one Potted Plant that has a line of sight on any incoming zombies from the nearby gangway.
[3] The lower deck of the ship can be accessed from four different entry points, which makes it tough to hold this area. It’s best to use the stairs connecting the lower deck and the upper deck as a chokepoint. Cactus can make that a lot easier to accomplish, but it will likely also be busy trying to handle the enemies coming in from the upper deck’s gangways.
Town Market Garden
While it is difficult, even with four plants, to lock down any of the three approaches through the town market leading to the Garden, zombie waves here are much more manageable than they are on the pirate ship. Ideally, you’ll be able to react quickly enough to waves of zombies if your team plays far enough forward that they’re able to spot what path the zombies are headed toward, and then make a fighting retreat toward the Garden, letting the Potted plants assist you.
[4] The central path to the Garden is a straight shot over from the pirate ship. Faster zombies using this path can reach the Garden quickly, but players can set up more Potted Plants on this route compared to any other. This can take some of the bite out of the zombie offensive.
[5] The northern section of the town market is more narrow than the central path, but it is still large enough that it’s tough to lock down in the event of a large zombie rush. More problematic is the relative lack of cover throughout this alley. When enemies with ranged capabilities start showing up regularly, players may find themselves pushed back out of a desire to reach some form of safety.
[6] The alley on the south side of the town market is the smallest of the three main paths. Much like its northern counterpart, cover is somewhat limited, but the narrow passage is perfect for a pair of Cactus Plants to use Tall-nuts to funnel zombies into Potato Mines, or blast groups that are stuck trying to bash through Tall-nuts with the Garlic Drone’s Corn Strike.
Castle Courtyard Garden
The castle courtyard Garden has three main approaches, just like the town market Garden. The castle is much smaller and more cramped than the town market, which means that if the zombies breach the outer wall entrances [7], they won’t have long to travel before they reach their target. Ideally, you should have one player to cover each of the entrances, with the fourth player acting as a sweeper to assist allies who are in danger. This tactic does not always work out, even on easier difficulties, and you’ll have even more trouble on the harder settings.
[8] The central courtyard, once again acting as the most direct route to the Garden, is where some of the heaviest fighting is likely to occur. This area has the most cover to use, and the highest concentration of places to grow Potted Plants.
[9] The short and winding southern route through the castle has a smaller courtyard, with a stairway that gets the zombies right up to your Garden. Your initial defenses here should be concentrated near the two spots where you can grow Potted Plants, falling back toward the Garden as it becomes necessary.
[10] The key to holding down the northern section of the castle is to try and slow the zombies down as much as possible at the actual castle wall. Failing that, set yourself up near the two Potted Plant spawns with good ranged plants, like the Pea Cannon, Gatling Pea, or Scaredy-shroom. Zombies can choose to invade the central courtyard from the northern passage, so keep that in mind.