So when you walk around the PopCap offices and see some us of playing video games during the workday, chances are we’re playing our own games. Because we actually like them. In fact, most of us start playing our new games well before they’re finished, because we’re encouraged to do so and to provide feedback to the design teams.

The best part about this — other than getting to play the games before you do — is that we get to watch them morph and get better over time. Take, for example, our just-launched Facebook game, Plants vs. Zombies Adventures, which our awesome San Francisco team has been making for over a year, and which has gone through some radical and fantastic transformations over the past few months. So it’s particularly satisfying to see the critics get their hands on it and, so far at least, give us a pretty unanimous thumbs up. Because, you know, we tend to agree with them.

If you haven’t tried it out yet (and you should, because it’s free, and it’s totally fun), I’m going to link to a few of the reviews so you can check them out. (And I promise I’m not just cherry-picking the good ones!)

Gamezebo
“The game packs in so much fun and exciting new content, and takes advantage of its new social home in all the right ways. But the best part is that it always still feels like a Plants vs. Zombies game, which I think is perhaps the game’s strongest achievement.”

Games.com
“Plants vs. Zombies Adventures manages to retain the core essence of the original game, while adding tons of fun new twists and gameplay alterations to always keep things fresh and interesting.”

MMOHunter
“Plants vs. Zombies Adventures is a wonderful sequel and successful installment to the hit PvZ franchise. With its proven core concepts, greater artwork and excellent use of social aspects as well as freemium model, it is sure to appeal to old PvZ fans and new casual game players alike.”

The Verge
“All told, it’s a solid adaptation of a great game, and an experience that’s worth logging in to Facebook for.”

Destructoid
“A solid game that definitely has an audience. Might lack replay value, could be too short or there are some hard-to-ignore faults, but the experience is fun.”

Kotaku
“Plants vs. Zombies Adventures is quite different from regular old Plants vs. Zombies, but it’s a good sort of difference.”

And here’s a nice 15-minute walkthrough from the folks at IGN.

But, hey, don’t let other people decide for you, even if we agree that they’re right! Go play it yourself!

PvZ Adventures is an ever-expanding world with new ways to play PvZ. What does that mean? It means now zombies go off the grid — they won’t just take straight lines to get your brains, they’ll take any zig-zagging way possible. It’s up to you to stop them. And it’s not just your yard you’re fighting in… it’s all of Big Zombie Country! In town, you’ll need to grow plants, defend your turf, take back the town from the zombies and build up what the zombies have un-built. Then, you’ll head out to the country on a zombie-zapping Road Trip with new worlds, new zombies and many ridiculous things.

Since it’s on Facebook, we made sure there are lots of ways to interact with your friends. Send a zombie to invade their town. Send a nice gift just to be nice. Or, just see how your stack of zombies ranks on the leaderboards.

There’s a ton of stuff to do, many sights to see, and lots of fun to find in PvZ Adventures. I could keep writing about it, but this is the point where I tell you to watch the game trailer and go play. So: watch the video, share with your friends, then go play!

Oh, and click the button at the end of the video and you’ll get 250 free coins to get started.

We hope you love the new game!

Reluctant Editor’s Note: For those of you who’ve read this far and are wondering: “Is this PvZ 2?” No, it’s not… that game is coming very soon! But, instead of sitting around waiting and asking for that, go get your zombie-zapping fix on Facebook. Yes, really.

Tip 1: Rocks
Rocks may not seem like much — they just sit around and lamet lanmet mope about not being bigger. But rocks can gussy up any garden with artful placement. Especially if placement involves climbing ladder and dropping rocks straight onto stupid flowers.

Tip 2: Salt
You got to be kidding, zombie, says you. But no, I don’t kid, says zombie! Salt is delishus on just about any type of brain, and eating delishus brains when they salty and even more delishus makes any garden more toler tolerbl okay.

Tip 4: Asparagus Stinks
Alive peepuls once said asparagus is delishus. Other alive peepuls say it’s just ditch weed. I say the second group of victims peepuls is right, and also it is stinky ditch weed. You will get to know asparagus more very soon (catch my hint hint?) so I don’t think you also need to plant stinky plantz in beautiful rock patch.

Tip 4: Garden Party
After yore garden is pretty and you are tired from hard work, invite friendz over for party this Saturday, 7:00 oclock. Friendz are new thing this year for Zombie — alive peepuls sending me to lots of friendz houses lately, but no garden party yet. Anyhoo, garden party after planting work should be grand and include special beve berv drinks and horse durves. Be sure to put big sign out for party and keep gate unlocked.

I hope you enjoy theez tips. Now go make best garden ever.

Love,

Zombie

Need more gardening tips, or advice for perfecting any other part of your life?
Help Zombie help you.
Send your question to ZombieAdvice (at) PopCap.com

Come explore the sunny new Nevis Island today. It’s pretty much a Caribbean vacation without all that pesky traveling.

Seek and find hundreds of clues, complete side missions to uncover more evidence, interact with the locals and team up with your Facebook friends for higher scores and to find even more clues!

Hidden Agenda is in Beta on Facebook now. That means that we are still putting the finishing touches on the game so you might still notice an odd thing or two as you play. But play you must! With great characters, awesome new art and a deep story, it’s a whole new kind of hidden object game altogether.

Visit Facebook.com/HiddenAgenda to learn more!

The crew is getting your ship ready to sail, but they need your help to finish each job. So join the fun and get ready for a new Solitaire Blitz adventure.

I swear, it's even prettier than I remembered! The colors, the crisp lines... I'm gonna go play a quick game. Be right back.

To my mind, the greatest joy of Zuma is how dynamic it is. I’ve written at length in the blog about how Zuma teaches you how to play as you go; this game wants you to succeed. Zuma Blitz takes it to the next level by letting you choose tools to carry with you in the game. The original Zuma Blitz had nine power-ups, and you could choose up to three per game. The new Zuma Blitz island of Kroakatoa has ten power-ups to choose from, but even better, we’ve added a whole new category of boost!

Tasty tropical treats tempt the tongue. Flavorful foods fuel the frog! Appetizing aliments augment your achievements!

Food is like having a fourth power-up slot, only better. With power-ups, you only get one of each type — you couldn’t, for instance, choose to fill two power-up slots with the Speed Shot in order to double that boost’s effect. But you could choose to play with Speed Shot and then add the Hasty Pudding on the food menu! That’s doubling your speed boost! If you’re lucky enough to land a Spirit Eagle monument, you could conceivably triple the speed boost based on your power-up and food choices.

(And while we’re on that topic, we’ve added some major improvements to the way monuments work on the new island — by popular demand, you now choose your boosts after accepting the monument! Also, monument streaks are now possible — once you’re on a streak, you can keep playing with that same monument, and it costs less each time!)

All of these options allow for the greatest depth of strategy ever in a Zuma game. The old island allowed you to discover and hone your playing style; Kroakatoa encourages you to explore it and find ways to enhance it. The power-ups and food can be combined endlessly to support your play, whether you choose to bolster your weaknesses or exploit your strengths.

Color Nuke is a brand new addition, and it will blow your mind! Technically, it will blow up all the balls of a single color on the curve, which is pretty sweet.

Check it out:

I know I’m good at gap shots, shooting Fruit, and maintaining my chain. So Speed Shot is a necessity for me, because it helps me slide my shots through narrow gaps. Fruit Master is a great choice, because if you’re good at something, give yourself more chances to do it! And Chain Blast rewards my vaguely obsessive-compulsive chain tendency. Top off that boost combo with a helping of Gapple Sauce, which makes gap shots worth even more points, and I’m going to the top of my leaderboard!

Or who doesn’t love making stuff explode in Zuma Blitz? If you like boosting your game with Bombs and Cannons, you’ll love Pyro Popcorn! It makes all your explosions even bigger!

Of course, there’s another big change, and that’s the switch from mojo and idols to coins. In the old Zuma Blitz, you earned small amounts of mojo for every game you played, and you were occasionally granted idols at various levels of achievement or as prizes in the random spinning treasure chest. Idols could be redeemed for mojo, and mojo was how you paid for boosts and monuments. That made my brain bend a little just trying to describe it. Coins are a much simpler form of currency (and as a bonus, the word “coin” actually is synonymous with currency in your head, so you don’t even have to learn new terms to understand it!). While you won’t receive small quantities of coins for every game you play, you will receive large quantities every time you level up! In fact, we did the math, and we can assure you that the average player will get more in that lump sum payment than they could ever have gotten over time in the smaller incremental grants.

Kroakatoa is not just the newest Zuma, it’s the best Zuma Blitz ever. If you’re a Zuma Blitz player but you haven’t joined us on the new island yet, watch for your invitation to board a boat and come on over! You should see it above your game board any day now.  If you’re new to Zuma Blitz, what are you waiting for? Come to the island paradise of Kroakatoa and get to blasting some balls!

Ready...set...duel!

Duels present both you and the friend you challenge with the exact same board. That’s right–the cards will not vary at all, so the only difference is you! Your decks are dealt out in perfect synchronicity, so there is no question of a luckier draw for one player or another. One of you was faster or made better choices, and that player will be victorious!

Your high scores so far have been achieved in isolation, but now you will really have something to brag about with the objective proof of your Solitaire Blitz superiority!  At the end of the match, just click “Post Results” to do your public victory dance.

On the other hand, if you didn’t come out on top this time, you could hit Rematch to start again on a new board.  (You can always hope starting a new game will distract your victorious friend from bragging about how hard he schooled you.  No guarantees though!)

Blitz Party creates a unique game of Bejeweled Blitz tailored specifically to you and your friend, setting goals that are achievable based on both players’ scores from recent games. When you start a game, you may see that your score goal is a whopping 455,000 or a paltry 125,000. That’s because it’s taking the average scores earned by each player and combining them. So if you invite a friend who tends to dominate your leaderboard to a Party round, your score goal may look kind of intimidating, but it’s not all your responsibility to make that happen! (In fact, let the show-off show off, right?  I’m not bitter over my meager scores, not at all.)

In addition to the score goal, you’ll also see a set of Special Gem goals for your game. Check the Party Meter before you get started, and you can plan out your strategy. If I’m playing with a friend whose scores are way more impressive than mine, I’m going to assume the score goal itself can largely rest on their Bejeweling shoulders, and meanwhile, I’ll focus on meeting the “elite goals” by making as many Flame Gems as possible and keeping an eye out for any chance at a Star Gem or Hypercube. (Besides, I like the word “elite.” It makes me feel special, despite my mediocre scores.)

I know if I just take my time and don't get caught up in speed-matching, I can create six Flame Gems!

Remember that the Mystery Gem boost grants you one special gem at the start of the game, and that special gem does count toward your goals! So select your Boosts with an eye toward advancing your team toward the ultimate achievement: the Perfect Party.

After your game of Bejeweled Blitz, you have a choice to send your friend the invitation or to try again for a better score first. Look at the results: how high did you advance the score on your Team Goal meter? How many special gems did you earn toward the elite goals? Are you satisfied with your contribution toward the team effort, or would you like to try again before sending your friend the invitation?

If you click “Send Score,” your score will be counted officially, and your friend will be notified that it is their turn to play a round with you in Bejeweled Blitz Party! If you click “Try Again,” you will have another shot at earning a higher score for your team. But remember, there’s no going back to that previous score once you hit “Try Again!” (If you fail to hit “Try Again” before time counts down, it’s the same as hitting “Send Score.” Your score will be saved and your invitation sent.)

Each day you visit Bejeweled Blitz, you can initiate one free Blitz Party game with a friend! That game is free for both players to try one round each, and you earn Coins for making certain progress toward the goal, even if you don’t make it all the way. Best of all, you play Bejeweled Blitz with a friend instead of against them, and if you ask me, teamwork makes everything more fun.