Plants vs Zombies

If you are suffering from post-Halloween withdrawals, Plants vs Zombies by PopCap Games may be the answer. And avid gardeners will revel in clearing their lawns of undead fiends.

This tower-defence game for both PCs and Macs features surprisingly simple but engaging game play.

Sow sunflowers to generate sunshine, the game's currency. Use the cash flow to grow a garden of pea-shooting plants, venom-spitting mushrooms and exploding chilli plants to get rid of hordes of zombies before they devour you.

As you advance through the levels, you get more fighting flora - and more zombies, who become tougher to beat and also wackier. Football-zombies, pole-vault-zombies and balloon-riding zombies enter the battle.

New battlegrounds emerge - the backyard and the rooftop. Even the swimming pool needs aquatic plants if you are really going to keep the zombies at bay.

The night missions call for resource-saving strategies, such as raising attack mushrooms that require little or no sunlight.