Plants vs Zombies

A lane defence game that became the reference point for the entire format, and it holds up because the economy is the puzzle. Sunlight is produced by plants you choose to grow instead of defences, so every turn you are deciding between income now and safety later — and the waves are timed to punish whichever you neglected. The plants are a genuine toolkit rather than a damage ladder. Some block, some shoot, some shoot in a different direction, some only work against a particular type of zombie, and the levels that are hardest are the ones where the lane layout makes your favourite combination unavailable. That means the strategy changes from stage to stage rather than settling into one build, which is why the campaign stays interesting for as long as it does. It is slow-paced by design and all the better for it: there is time to look at a lane and decide, and failures are decisions rather than reflexes. The presentation is friendly enough for children and the strategy is deep enough for adults, which is a rare combination. It plays with a mouse or taps, runs on anything, and saves progress between sessions.