Plants vs Zombies Replanted bonus levels are a dedicated set of standalone challenge stages unlocked after finishing the main Adventure mode campaign. Accessible from the Adventure mode menu alongside new modes like Cloudy Day and Rest in Peace (RIP), these levels restore cut content originally hidden on the "Limbo Page" of the 2009 PC edition—which previously required file modifications or third-party tools to access.
Beating these stages does not award a dedicated trophy; completed levels simply reward the player with a bag of coins. Below is the complete breakdown of every bonus stage featured in Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted, their unique gimmicks, and verified player strategies.
Overview of All PvZ Replanted Bonus Levels
The bonus level roster features returning concept mini-games, shape-planting art puzzles, and extreme environmental modifiers across daytime, night, pool, and roof settings.
| Bonus Level | Lawn Environment | Primary Gimmick | Documented Mechanics & Threats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art Challenge Wall-nut | Day | Lawn Art Blueprint | Pre-marked tiles require planting Wall-nuts to form a shape while defending standard waves. |
| Sunny Day | Day | High-Value Sun | Giant sun drops fall from the sky, each granting 50 sun instead of the standard 25. |
| Unsodded | Day (3-lane sod) | Unplantable Outer Lanes | Only the middle three lanes have grass; zombies still spawn on bare top and bottom paths. |
| Big Time | Day | Giant Plant Buffs | Specific plants (Sunflowers, Wall-nuts) appear enlarged; big Sunflowers produce 50 sun. |
| Art Challenge Sunflower | Day | Multi-Plant Blueprint | Players must plant Starfruit, Wall-nuts, and Umbrella Leaves on designated outline tiles. |
| Air Raid | Pool | Heavy Aerial Swarms | An intense influx of Balloon Zombies attacks across land and water lanes. |
| High Gravity | Roof | Distorted Projectile Arcs | Heavy gravity pulls down lobbed and straight projectiles early, limiting standard offensive range. |
| Grave Danger | Night | Spawning Gravestones | Gravestones continuously sprout across active rows, occasionally crushing existing plants. |
| Can You Dig It? | Day | Pre-Filled Wall-nut Lawn | The lawn begins packed with Wall-nuts; players must shovel them up to plant Peashooters. |
| Dark Stormy Night | Fog (Night) | Pitch-Black Flashes | The screen remains pitch dark except for periodic lightning strikes illuminating the conveyor belt action. |
Strategy Guide for the Toughest Bonus Stages
While several stages like Sunny Day provide generous economies that allow for immediate high-tier setups (such as Winter Melons or Repeaters with Torchwood), others introduce severe placement restrictions.
1. Unsodded
In Unsodded, your playable lawn is limited to rows two, three, and four. Zombies still march down rows one and five, meaning single-lane forward shooters (like regular Peashooters) placed in the center cannot hit outer threats.
- Economy Placement: Reserve the middle row (lane three) for Sunflowers. Because middle-lane defenders overlap coverage, keeping your economy centered minimizes loss if outer lanes face pressure.
- Cross-Lane Attackers: Threepeaters placed on rows two and four can hit the unsodded lanes (rows one and five) while simultaneously cross-firing into the center. Starfruit and Gloom-shrooms also provide multi-lane coverage.
- Early Defense: Stalling with early Potato Mines in the middle lanes gives you enough breathing room to stockpile sun for your first Threepeater.
2. High Gravity
High Gravity takes place on the Roof and fundamentally alters physics. Catapult plants (like Cabbage-pult, Corn-pult, and Melon-pult) as well as horizontal shooters have their projectile arcs aggressively weighed down, causing attacks to fall short of targets at typical engagement distances.
- Direct Instants and Contact Defense: Players in recorded runs found success pivoting to instant-kill plants like Squashes and Cherry Bombs to clear clusters that normal projectiles cannot reach.
- Aerial Counters: While Balloon Zombies appear on this stage, high gravity pulls them down to ground level or slows their clearance, though bringing Blover remains an immediate safety valve to blow them away.
- Close-Range Placement: Defensive plants like Pumpkins and Wall-nuts paired with short-range options or Starfruit placed further forward prevent zombies from bypassing dead projectile zones.
3. Air Raid
Air Raid is a Pool stage dominated by Balloon Zombies. Because Balloon Zombies bypass standard ground plants until popped, your lawn defense requires dedicated anti-air tools.
- Cactus and Blover Deployment: Cactus needles stretch upward to pop balloons, instantly dropping zombies over water where they drown. Blover can blow all active airborne zombies completely off the screen.
- Early-Game Sacrifice: In player runs, the opening wave of balloons often spawns before a complete sun economy is established. Players often opt to sacrifice an early lawnmower in an outer lane to focus sun production on Lily Pads, Sun-shrooms, and backline Cacti.
4. Grave Danger
Grave Danger places you on a Night lawn where tombstones generate rapidly throughout the round, rather than just appearing at setup.
- Grave Buster Priority: Because new gravestones can spawn directly on top of active plant tiles and remove your defenses, keep Grave Busters on constant cooldown.
- Cheap Frontlines: Pair Fume-shrooms and Scaredy-shrooms with disposable Puff-shrooms. Since graves will disrupt lane symmetry, zero-sun Puff-shrooms provide cheap frontline distraction while Grave Busters clear tiles.
5. Can You Dig It?
This conveyor-belt-style challenge gives you a yard pre-planted with five full rows of Wall-nuts.
- Selective Shoveling: Shovel Wall-nuts from the leftmost back columns first to make room for Peashooters and Repeaters delivered down the conveyor belt.
- Staggered Defense: Leave the forward two or three columns of Wall-nuts untouched to act as a permanent barricade while you convert the rear yard into firing lines.
How to Unlock the Bonus Levels
Bonus levels are not immediately accessible when you start a fresh profile. To reach them:
- Complete the main Adventure campaign to defeat Dr. Zomboss.
- Return to the Adventure mode menu from the title screen.
- The mode select screen will reveal the new campaign variants and bonus modes, including Classic Level select, Cloudy Day, Rest in Peace (RIP), and the Bonus Levels tab.
Rewards and Achievements
Completing bonus levels serves primarily as post-game completion content:
- Stage Rewards: Each completed bonus level rewards the player with coin bags.
- Trophies and Achievements: Unlike the standard 20 Mini-Games (which grant the "Beyond The Grave" achievement) or Cloudy Day (which grants the "Cloud Cover" achievement), the Bonus Levels do not have an individual Steam achievement tied to clearing them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are the Plants vs Zombies Replanted bonus levels completely new?
The mechanics and level concepts originate from the unused "Limbo Page" hidden in the code of the original 2009 PC release. In Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted, they are officially polished and integrated into the post-game menus without requiring modding tools.
Why is the Ice level missing from the bonus levels?
The original Limbo Page contained an "Ice Level" mock-up, which was originally created as an April Fool's gag by designer George Fan. PopCap did not include the Ice Level in Replanted's bonus level selection.
Can you use the speed-up toggle in bonus levels?
Yes. The 1.5x, 2.0x, and 2.5x speed toggles function across all bonus levels. However, in stages requiring fast micro-management—such as clearing graves in Grave Danger or precise placement in High Gravity—keeping the game at 1.0x or 1.5x speed helps prevent missed sun drops and misclicks.
