How Two Games Kept A Genre Alive (Bloons & Plants vs Zombies)

I sunk a lot of time and wasted a lot of battery of my phones into these two games. Time to look at how far they've come.
P.S. This was written and recorded before the whole Atrioc thing
Intro:
2 Games, with their backs against the wall, took to the forefront of a war zone in an uphill battle that would determine the very futures they were fighting for. Those games, no, those heroes, were (short pause with break of tension and change of music + editing) bloons tower defense and plants vs zombies. Developed by Ninja Kiwi and PopCap games respectively, these two franchises took a promising genre of gaming, and made it one of the most popular, not only mobile games, but just games in general, over the last decade and a half, and even saved the genre from falling into eventual obscurity.
Tower Defense games as a genre has been around since the late 70’s and early 80’s, as much as they don’t want you to know about it. While being around for quite a long time, these kinds of games weren’t exactly living up to the potential that the genre as a whole had. In fact, one of the first true tower defense games that basically set the general formula for what we know today, was a little game called Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (for the Atari 2600)...

[@Jaavis_]

Comment here if you want to talk about Kingdom Rush

[@Valeir42]

lmao Kingdom rush was a vital part of my childhood summers Originally found it off of random websites as a flash game, it was interesting to find a flash game with so much effort and detail put into its art and gameplay. Even if the story was rather small and simple, they made it work, and overall, it was pretty fun

[@krahser6914]

Used to play it a lot and recently just got into it. It’s pretty fun.

[@cheesydinos]

more monke and bloon

[@Water_156]

w game please talk about it

[@aleksissenkovs7730]

Good damn memories playing since i was 4 or 5 years old so ye i would enjoy this getting talked about 😊

[@kraken_slayergaming5833]

Fun fact: if you read the plant/zombie book in PvZ 1, you find out the Wallnut actually doesn't mind and often finds it to be therapeutic.

[@fishygaming2554]

I remember it said something about walnut saying that getting eaten feels like a back massage.

[@Verisubbo]

I was wondering if anyone would mention this

[@accelfromtds6384]

"Tingling sensation"

[@sunderland7694]

​@@fishygaming2554 damn that's the best way to insult your enemies

[@ChronDoc024]

the book is called the suburban almanac, and as a person who has only played pvz 1 for a million years, can confirm this comment is fax

[@Israel_Augustine]

I love how the titan’s of the TD genre have the most ridiculous premises

[@muffins901]

and I have 0 doubts in my mind that that's a reason on why they're the titans. they are such goofy premises of "monkey pop bloon" and "plant kill zombie" that people are too intrigued by it to not check it out

[@rob3rtbigtoegaming431]

haha funni monke throw dart at balloon go brrr

[@murmunster1761]

bro is going to marvel at battle cats

[@ponkothedestroyerofworlds6226]

hehe monke pop baloon

[@smallw1991]

@@murmunster1761 Yeah but battle cats isn't trying to be cool, they make their game deliberately ridiculous and they love it. Both PvZ and Bloons geniunely feel like it would be normal in a different universe, as odd as it is here. Also everything in PvZ and Bloons fits the theme within the continuinty, whereas in battle cats they just put in loads of crazy stuff as long as its cool

[@Joober]

You can copy & paste your script into the Captions settings and they'll auto-sync to the video for you! 🙂

[@Jaavis_]

Did not know that, sahweet thank you

[@SalveASMR]

Woah!!! Thank you 💚

[@Connie_TinuityError]

no they don't, it's all out of sync and you have to adjust it manually

[@toobin_]

@@Connie_TinuityError not anymore, they updated it to look at auto captions and the real captions whenever you choose to auto-sync and it sees what words match up and lines it up that way.

[@stevelucky7579]

@@toobin_ that’s pretty cool, I didn’t know that.

[@SorosPhuvix]

Saw the og KZbin app design and got blasted with 80 psychic damage. Always been a fan of video essays, if you keep up this particular series I look forward to it!

[@Jaavis_]

Was it super effective

[@FranXiT]

You should have been a Dark type fr

[@edex59]

Fun fact: A Wallnut’s nervous system is so numb that they don’t really feel any of the “getting eaten” part. It’s really more of a light tickling sensation. So yes, the Wallnuts in PVZ are ok with being eaten alive. I mean, they only start frowning when their insides are literally exposed. Meanwhile, us humans would burst into tears immediately after a single bite to the scalp. Are we just inferior to PVZ Wallnuts? Or do we just have a better fight or flight response?

[@murmunster1761]

people: AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH IM BLEEEEDDDDIIINNNGGGGG wallnut: awww my organs are exposed again

[@dragonhunter2343]

Definitely humans are inferior. My squishy meat form is too vulnerable to dare compare to the wallnut and tallnut beautiful and graceful forms.

[@francisros9115]

It's more of a tingling than tickling

[@plazmatek4958]

Editing is good, writing is good, I would like to touch on some stuff with PvZ First, I feel it should have been stated that PvZ was originally released for the PC, and how great it was that a PC game was moved to mobile devices. Secondly, I feel it should have been mentioned that PvZ2 is still a live service game, and is, in fact, still being updated, which shows that PopCap didn't completely move away from Tower Defense. That's all I wanted to say. Great job, I look forward to your career with great interest!

[@tpfoxCastro]

I agree, this video gives to much attention to Pvz 1, I want to see PVZ2!

[@Tired_Tortilla]

Also saying that the garden warfare games had no staying power is just false. They stopped making them because BFN was way worse the GW2 and EA instead thought of it as people don't like the pvz shooters anymore instead of we made a bad game lets try again to improve. Also GW2 has a decent player count still you can even get full or almost full lobbies consistently.

[@ferret3423]

My first ever video game was PvZ. Had it on my gramps old pc. I used to play it every day after school. Its been so long since I've played the OG though, which is a shame.

[@9tales9f]

Their animation and creativity budget ran out lol

[@aakwok9240]

@@Tired_Tortilla True, GW was much better than BFN.

[@ED-gw9rg]

Don't forget that Kingdom Rush exists! The original can be played for free, while Origins and Frontiers only cost $4.99 on mobile. Vengeance was a bit rocky, but they got a new game designer to balance the most recent expansion, and graphically the game's just as great!

[@genethemineman]

also stick war legacy if it counts, well you hve to defend a statue

[@capricous7196]

​@@genetheminemanit's more like an rts because the main format of td games is your tower shoots / damage the enemies and they rather doesn't move very often unlike a rts would with its units

[@Suitedbee]

Dude this is feel like add

[@Zalimo4733]

​@@genethemineman i dont think it counts, it is more of an rts. But there is some examples of tower defense and rts combined too, like mindustry, its a combination of factory building, rts and tower defence

[@Pinkio]

"Origins" and "Frontiers" _Where have i seen this name before...?_ literally Sonic The Hedgehog on 2022 lmao

[@CopyZero]

Two classics I still play to this very day. BTD6 and PvZ1 will remain staples in my heart, and to many others.

[@retrorobot9766]

Same, wanna ve friends in BTD 6?

[@kristyandesouza5980]

Honorable mention: The entire Kingdom Rush series

[@shalvei_]

sadly not as replayable as the other two and the series peaked at Frontiers (I'm still hopeful tht Ironhide didn't go to shit and that they can still make good games)

[@AbdelkrimElfaouz]

​@Shadow first one is good Secound one was really good it made the the game popular Third is not bad but alr Vengeance is good Last one is literally dogshit

[@shalvei_]

@@AbdelkrimElfaouz there's no last one, Kingdom Rush Heroes or whatever it's called isn't a tower defense, neither is Iron Marines, so I don't know what game you're talking about

[@proteinsmann4889]

Bro never opened the almanac in pvz for sure. Walnut says he doesn't feel like he's being eaten by zombies.

[@Jaavis_]

They still never asked him if he was cool with it

[@zantos4853]

@@Jaavis_ He's a chill guy.

[@Jaavis_]

@@zantos4853 He's my hero

[@thekaanemre]

finally, some PvZ content! idk why people don't know PvZ or didn't heard it or even Bloons. they are my childhod, especially PvZ

[@cauagamerbr1107]

Maybe you Just, yk *never searched it up* There is a lot of pvz and btd

[@echodolphonian5729]

@@cauagamerbr1107 spittin' fax, there are a LOT of people that know both the games

[@Peaaaaaaaaaaa]

PvZ forever

[@bluemariogangsta2]

PvZ is very well known, its even overrated in my opinion, BTD isn't as popular

[@echodolphonian5729]

@@bluemariogangsta2 YOU TAKE THAT BACK YOU BOMBASTIC REDDITOR

[@Norwhal]

Monkey pop balloon. Monkies and Balloons have been at war since the dawn of time, but the question I've always wondered: What are the balloons running from? Where are they running to? WHY R U RUNNIN?!

[@Jaavis_]

Good meme, meme generator

[@ukkisragee9983]

You are confusing balloons and bloons One is a harmless decoration that can even be found in parties for children, and the other is a deadly thing that knows only how to kill and destroy.

[@rizkidary837]

Well that bloons was a spy baloons

[@dungeonlord2366]

well actually the lore is that the monkeys popped the at the time, innocent bloons in the bloons puzzle game which is seperate from the td games. after this the bloons had no choice but to attack the monkeys to defend their land.

[@ichiritos]

​@@dungeonlord2366 wait...so we are the evil guys?

[@aduckwalkeduptoalemonadestand]

If you read his almanac entry, Wallnut actually did have a choice in the matter

[@SnoFitzroy]

6:02 it's literally in the first game's almanac. They literally have asked. It's the first thing PopCap thought of with the character is "how does he feel about it" and the almanac explains it away by having Wall-nut with really insensitive nerves so it just feels like a backrub to him edit: 7:57 GW2 is literally still active lmao it literally DOES have staying power

[@supC_]

Was about to say the Wall-Nut part myself.

[@Tired_Tortilla]

Yeah the reason the stopped making shooters is because they took the negative reception from BFN as people don't like the shooters anymore instead of we made a bad game lets go back to the GW formula.

[@Lt_Koro]

bro GW2 is so good. sadly the PC version is pretty much dead. last time I tried during peak gaming time in the evening on the EU servers there where barely enough people to play. and if you did get into a match there where always one or two others who are always there with you again and again. but man did I have a lot of fun playing that game

[@mananonymous7197]

This man is definitely heavily underrated. I just couldn't get my eyes of the video, it's so freaking well done

[@bojo1942]

7:22 Sad pvz heroes noises

[@DemolitionIdiot]

not even 30 seconds in and this guy is underrated AF

[@utopes]

I think it’s his first video, so that would make sense

[@DemolitionIdiot]

@@utopes yeah

[@cowboypeashooter]

Finally some f-ing good commentary about PVZ. Really tired of people saying pvz ded.Good first video man

[@Your_Daily_Apple]

This was such a great video, I wanna see this channel grow

[@Fabled_Adventure_Girl_Kanna]

If not for those two, every tower defense enthusiast would talk about kingdom rush instead... Not that it's not talked about but y'know

[@vashangelolagda1744]

BTD and PVZ are my all time favorites

[@RuneTacticss]

Defender's Quest: Valley of the Forgotten is sooooo good, honestly my favorite tower defense game of all time. I also remember the Gemcraft series pretty fondly.

[@Pixel_PedroYT]

Underrated AF. Only thing that bothered me was your shift in tone with the GW games because they're amazing, but I understand the complaints weren't with the games themselves, more-so with the change of style. For me, They should have been either just a spin-off, or a secondary game series, with both being developed. But, after GW1's massive success, PopCap abandoned tower defense for a while, until they brought it back. There's also PVZ heroes, but it's the most mid game ever, and like, I don't mean mid as in bad, I mean actually mid, average, neither amazing nor terrible. It's just kinda there.

[@tpfoxCastro]

PVZ2 always received updates, PopCap never abandoned tower defense

[@trickygamer555]

@@tpfoxCastro Yes, but every update made it worse. I wish I could go back to the old versions where there was no P2W, gameplay was interesting, and far future was still being worked on.

[@tpfoxCastro]

@@trickygamer555 Uhhh, no? The most recent updates have been very good, there is new zombies and new plants coming, with some of them being plants from the original PVZ1. My man, you are a little trapped in the past, just a little

[@trickygamer555]

@@tpfoxCastro Ever since levels were added to the game (for plants) it's been killed for me, I can't take the game serious any more.

[@tpfoxCastro]

@@trickygamer555 you can win the game without upgrading any plants or using any premiums. Also, it's mostly a songle player game

[@razvan_nustiuce5551]

Honestly I'd argue that the PvZ 2 community isn't nearly as active as the Garden Warfare and just shootet side of the franchise in general, and even then, most of the stuff going on in the actual community of PvZ 2 is happening on the modding side with stuff like Eclise, Reflourished and Altverz just to name a few. I'm not saying that the GW side of the franchise is bigger... that would be impossible but they definitely have a lot more going on, not only thanks to people hosting tournaments and whatnot, but also problems like big names in the community doxxing eachother like toddlers throwing all the swear words they learned from their parents the night before.

[@Zazastinker5555]

My first tower defense was Plants vs. Zombies as I use to play it with my Grandpa and we beat the game on a few occasions . and it literally made me click and is what got me into gaming, going into minecraft, then left 4 dead, bloons tower defense all those huge titles only because of one little game.

[@karenafable6588]

Wow this is very good quality! I wonder why you have little amount of subs u deserve some more!

[@alexistramirez]

Monkeys Vs. Balloons is so amazing

[@helheim58]

And Plants vs Zombies

[@ded00023]

Both are the best

[@tjmonkey5795]

Monke versus bloon funnier though​@@helheim58

[@ItsartoTV]

Wow great video You deserve more views

[@weirdnex]

great video! The only detail i would add to this is that the second pvz game ever made is, as far as i know, pvz adventures, which is completely fine if you missed that lol, it was available on facebook a long time ago and only lasted a couple of years i believe, but still, great job!

[@pine_13]

Arknights would definitely be my favorite tower defense game although it’s sort of an RTS hybrid as well.

[@shalvei_]

too bad it's a gacha and a really grindy one at that

[@faustus_tatacher9035]

@@shalvei_ ​ the grind is pretty simple once ur at mid game, u just play for a couple of hours, lose your sanity (energy meter), then u wait until tomorrow. It's not as complicated as you think bud. Plus 3 star characters are op and they're pretty common to get by anyways hell they're even better than the 5 to 6 star operators

[@shalvei_]

@@faustus_tatacher9035 don't call me a bud please also I've never played the game

[@januszpolak254]

@@faustus_tatacher9035 As Arknights addict 3* are not even close in power to even 4*, 5* and especially 6* that have such fun and balanced characters like Surtr,Texas and Młynar. However getting 4* ops is pretty easy.

[@therealcactoos9457]

@@shalvei_ “Grindy gacha meh” “I’ve also never played the game” Lol

[@KillaCatzGames]

I played both for a long time during my childhood and still now. They are both very fun and they are the most popular of all td games

[@Water_156]

underrated content

[@olz33]

2 absolutely ICONIC franchises, the bloons games are constantly getting better and NK seems to be intent on providing content and listening to community reception on balance and changes to improve the active bloons games

[@noob3702]

1. ur underrated as hell 2. tower defense games are fun

[@DragoonDyte]

2:59 god dammit I fell for it, and not only I was not in fullscreen, I am also charging this, damn

[@DubYuhGChoppa]

BTD is such an amazing series and i really think the existence of Battles is an underrated element

[@kenynotkenny]

Absolutely, I'm always amazed how they are able to make a pvp tower defend game that is actually intense

[@identity_undetermined]

And the PVZ 1 versus mode, which was really fun, but only kept to local play.

[@Daniel_645]

Also the MUSIC!! I think it adds to how good these games are

[@thankst1ps635]

holy this is my first video of you I watched and I thought you would have around 500k subs, damn

[@Venator-Class_Star_Destroyer]

I love Plants vs Zombies, I remember playing garden warfare to BITS...Just me, the coach, the xbox, a pizza, and a Cola zero

[@PenguinInASuit]

UNDERATED CHANNEL ALERT

[@Darthbuddy]

To answer your question at 6:02, yes. according to the suburban almanac, the walnut only feels a slight tingle when being bitten.

[@Ortir]

Battle cats community being isolated from the world moment

[@theguy6680]

Yeah it's pretty odd is I'm somewhat of a member of the community of this point, not a whole lot of videos and I even joined the fandom discord it's definitely one of my favorite games after all over a year and a half I've already sunk over 600 into the game and I've caught up with the latest content

[@Ang3l_VR]

Randomly found this I needed this in my life

[@Ace_D_ead]

Woah a hidden gem KZbinr!

[@sixtysource]

3:00 that actually got me. 😭

[@playingbandits3033]

The Battle Cats is another amazing tower defense game!! Definitely recommend.

[@theguy6680]

Finally thank you I have played it's so much I feel like the game if iconic but no one talks about it at all not even be amazing music

[@Plantplustrees]

Me playing battle cats just before watching this KZbin video

[@mmhhgabe4599]

I don’t think it has been mentioned just because it gained its popularity very recently from what I see

[@JediDrewsterT]

This is basically a Duopoly at this point

[@Marconeon2114]

they are absolutely the pinnacle of tower defense games it is my favorite genre

[@lukers9819]

This was a great video! I know it may not be as well known as the shooter, but Plants vs Zombies also released another really fun mobile app in the form of Plants vs Zombies Heroes! It is a really impressive deck builder game that has a lot of depth and a ton of creativity. It is still not a tower defense game, but it also is another form that PvZ has taken besides the shooters. This is not a critique on the video for not mentioning this; I just felt compelled to add this to the comments since I still love PvZ Heroes and believe it is a worthy addition to the PvZ brand.

[@Timoty470]

You are underrated

[@Jaavis_]

I don’t think I’m rated in general

[@sparcz2412]

You actually tricked me with the 20% battery at the beginning

[@mr.bananaman7901]

Well when i saw the video i was originally gonna say "What about teh kingdom rush games?" But you beat me to it

[@Lulu_Gaming1025]

Also better place in arknights as well. Kept the genre going possibly forever at this point

[@Naukko]

Took me more than half of the video to notice the music in the background was zen garden

[@PeashooterRappin]

Indeed, we saved the genre, but what we couldn’t save is the pool in GW1.

[@BlueMarioGangsta]

you saved the genre and then you died

[@zomandrudegaming9340]

PVZ WAS MY CHILDHOOD ITS A HUGE W!

[@KaikeCGR]

When it says tower defense i remember my favorite game on NES, a game called TANK 1990.

[@aosure]

i can tell this guy will go viral

[@igga_hd]

Kingdom Rush: *did you forget about me?!*

[@adweck]

well uhh before plants vs zombies 2 released in 2013 there was a facebook pvz game called pvz adventures (it got discontinued in 2014) then after pvz gw2 there was pvz heroes, a card game and there were two different versions of pvz3, the 2019-2020 soft launch which was the portrait mode thing you showed in the video, then since 2021 every 6 months there is a new beta of a new version of pvz3 which is *slightly* better than the previous one

[@An_epic_orange]

6:00 the wall nut confirms that he is okay with being a wall in the almanac.

[@mmhhgabe4599]

I feel Ninja Kiwi is basically keeping tower defense alive, but basically killing chance for any other game not owned by them to succeed. With their main 2 games right now, Btd6 and Btd Battles 2, they basically made top notch games very hard to beat. Whether you talk about the simplistic gameplay, complicated gameplay, intense gameplay, competitive gameplay, Ninja Kiwi just wins all of those and gives other tower defenses nothing to grow on besides niche gimmicks Edit: Also, with their constant flow of balance changes, updates, exciting content, and weekly events, nothing can really be that consistent but also high quality at the same time

[@-Raylight]

Can confirm, the monke made the bloons go pop

[@Donchan1]

I was just thinking about these games

[@RipplyAnemone67]

2:59 I actually though it was a real one for a second

[@jucool5]

Yeah bro it got me good💀

[@SoshuTheGnome]

what a cool youtube video, let's see how many subs this dud-

[@Jaavis_]

Gotta start somewhere 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@angrybirdsmuseum7241]

I was literally talking to people about this earlier today and then i found this video

[@mana_sourcer]

HOW IS THIS CHANNEL UNDER 1K

[@bananaoatmeal]

Let’s go!!!

[@Moron_V8]

Bloons is like the fighter that refuses to quit and will only stop when forced to stop.

[@Timeless56_No.256_a]

epic thumbnail

[@Stage_3_Yawning_Cat]

6:06 yes, it was asked, and the gist of the answer was yes because wallnut doesn't feel it

[@LeoYoshi54321]

rip to the 38 other bloons games that never get mentioned outside of that one 2 and a half hour long video

[@GL1TCHT0N_RETRO]

i love both fucking games so this made me cry (in a good way) over this little documentary

[@BadBoyBird]

I used to almost play every game of pvz & btd back then.

[@SMG7_Yes]

One is still a great series of games & one is a fallen giant

[@murmunster1761]

ea really did their work on pvz, especially after firing the original creator of the 1st entry in the franchise

[@mcfloridaman2192]

3:00 i really thought my phone was on low battery 😂

[@mrsentrybuster]

Wall-nut enjoys the back rub, don't worry.

[@CC_Cody2224]

7:14 Since you said "Bloons" not "Bloons TD", then you are masively mistaken, The original Bloons was like those cannon shooting games, You aim a dart and charge it and pop as much as Bloons as you can, and Bloons had a LOT of spinoffs, and Bloons TD was one of them and ultimately the one that carried the franches, Bloons had several versions and sequels, but since Bloons TD became the prominent one, even Bloons TD itself had several spinoffs, like Super Monkey, which functions nothing like the tower defense games, and then a sequel to Bloons, Bloons Pop! (Not Bloons Pop 3) and pretty much every character in the game from Bloons TD 6. There are much more to talk about but I wouldn't be putting it all here.

[@TopazToken]

here before this guy blows up somehow this guy only has 589 subscribers

[@KraylebStudios]

Favourite tower defence games are PvZ, BTD, and Monster Train. So much so that im trying to work on a card game that includes them

[@BardockEnjoyer]

I miss pvz I can't believe pvz is coming to an end after pvz3

[@lcajueiro]

2:58 THAT GOT ME

[@mjmoffatt6097]

Garden warfare and GW2 are amazing games

[@xavirzahidder9096]

Both is childhood games

[@Blaze_Bro]

we need to start a petition for a PVZ GW3

[@ploranaithegamer1886]

Finally a positive creator

[@gilbertbeltran9039]

This guy didn't even have an introduction to his channel, he just said facts- A guy that commented on Oversimplified's first video

[@theclown2257]

The garden warfare games were actually really good. Its one of the only 3 multiplayer shooter series that i actually enjoy. After garden warfare 2 the entire series started to fumble. Battle for neighborville was kinda mid and at least for the time being, killed the pvz shooters, and the 3rd tower defense game was widely hated during every open beta it ever had and is now canceled. Pvz 2 and merchandise are the only things keeping the franchise alive, wich is pretty sad to see

[@hustuha]

what is the flash game at 3:07 ? I want to see if I can find it on my flash archive, I think it was one of the games I played in the past

[@ImPerroni]

both really good games

[@yes_and_so_what]

seeing sunflowers in the back hurts so much. i wish they would teach newer players than offensive plants are in the back, sun producers in the middle

[@loganshaw4527]

Rift bound summoner's path looks very much like the classic plants vs zombies.

[@SansinatorYT]

just clicked on it and im in love with the video, one piece music :)

[@biulixer]

Bro i thought the low battey pop up was my phone☠️

[@slippythepenguin1561]

i remember once playing btd6 at a restaurant and then one of the waiters recommended PvZ to me.

[@Bigzthegreat]

their backs must hurt from all the carrying

[@vrourk]

On the first bloons all you have to do is spam dart monkeys

[@TheCodaCrew]

3:28 as someone who lost both their grandpas, I will never know the answer