Collect your sun! Grow your plants! And repel the army of zombies from eating your brains! This is the basic concept of the award-winning video game “Plants vs. Zombies.” Players situate various types of plants (and a small amount of fungi) in their backyard, front yard, or roof. Each plant has unique abilities to fight zombies. But beware, ­if you don't plant wisely, your brains may become an afternoon snack!

First released in 2009, it was modified in 2010 into an app. To accommodate even more gamers, Popcap released a ­version for the Nintendo DS, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, ­Android and BlackBerry Playbook. A sequel is set for 2013.

The concept is simple yet original. The field is divided into nine horizontal lanes to plant your items. They remain until eaten by a zombie or removed by you. You have a few plants and slots to sow them in. As it progresses, new plants are unlocked.

Some plants are offense, while others are for defense. They are well thought out and tie in with each other. So, if you plant a torchwood in front of a peashooter, when the pea becomes a fire pea it does twice the damage.

Another creative aspect is the zombies. At first, you are introduced to simple zombies, like the Coneheads and Pole Vaulters. Later, you encounter ones with special abilities just like the plants, such as the Pumpkin Thrower zombie and the Jack-in-the-Box.

“Plants vs. Zombies” has ­received an overall positive ­response from critics and is credited with taking the tower defense genre and making it their own.

It incorporates playful aspects to create an addictively fun strategy game. You should definitely purchase it. So, what are you waiting for? Plant your sunflowers and get to work preventing the zombies from eating your brains!