Thanks to Omar Gallaga at the Austin American Statesman, I failed yet again to get Christmas lights on the house.  But I had a good excuse. I had zombies on the roof.  Based on the rec of the Digital Savant, I checked out “Plants and Zombies” from PopCap games. Now on sale for just $9.99, the game proved too tempting to wait until Christmas.  I downloaded the game and within minutes I was hooked.

The purchase comes with 5 site licenses, so I put the game on all my computers.  The kids saw me playing and before I know it, everyone in the house, even friends from the neighborhood are shooting frozen peas at pole vaulting undead.

Except for my wife. She’s pissed. Here is how I justified the screen time: the TVs stayed off all weekend, and the game is actually math based. The second is a bit of a stretch, but you’ll understand when you get zombified. The game is highly strategic (and addictive), requiring the players to master an economy of sorts; balancing the need for zombie smooshing butter catapults with energy producing sunflowers. You have to make strategic decision and calculations constantly to survive the onslaught.

My wife didn’t buy it, so I had to sponsor frequent breaks outside or to the gym for a bit of exercise. That appeased her somewhat.

As for myself, the newspaper went untouched this Sunday. NFL and bowl games went unwatched. I didn’t finish my book, even though I’m down to the really exciting part. I did play the game all the way to the end. Fun stuff.

Of course, I thought I would impress the Gear Daddy with my digital discovery. “Yeah, I love that game,” he said casually. Damn. (One note: though the zombies are buffoonish, some kids — like Troy’s son — can find them a little disturbing. The final stage is pretty scary and intense though I doubt a kid could get to that level without adult help.) Overall, this game makes a great and inexpensive stocking stuffer for your tween gamer.

It made me think of our publisher, and their smash hit. I wonder if we should have put zombies in our book. Aren’t sleep-deprived parents close enough?