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GDC 2015: ‘Zombie Match Defense’ Brings a Match-3 Element to ‘Plants vs. Zombies’, and it Totally Works

In a world where it’s becoming increasingly difficult to make a match-3 game interesting in any way, every once in a while someone is still able to come along and do just that. In this particular case, that someone is Jake Sones from Shovelware Games and his upcoming game Zombie Match Defense. Oh I forgot, if there’s anything more played out than match-3 games it’s zombies, but again, somehow Zombie Match Defense embraces both in a really interesting and fun way. The game is set up like a lane defense game like Plants vs. Zombies, but instead of harvesting resources and deploying various units into the field to deal with the approaching threat, you simply make matches on the board to deal with the zombies. It’s so simple, but works so, so well.

The idea of making “Plants vs. Zombies with match-3" is so clever I can’t believe nobody has done it before. Obviously there’s still some work to do in Zombie Match Defense, but the core concept is in place and it’s a lot of fun. If all goes according to plan Shovelware will be putting Zombie Match Defense out sometime in June, so keep an eye out for it.