George Fan's Sketchbook

2009: PopCap Studios
When the game Plants vs Zombies came out, it quickly became the popular tower-defense series it is today, having spawned a sequel, a spin-off, and a Facebook game. While working on it though, lead designer George Fan took inspiration from several different games, such as building a deck from Magic: The Gathering and tower defense mods for Warfare III.

In terms of art, Fan was aiming for a hybrid of gritty and 'sickeningly cute', and the result was what we know today.

"Somewhere there's a mixed metephor for 'Don't play with your food' and 'always eat your veggies in all of this'..."  --Nikki Nola
During the 'Once Upon a Warehouse' case, Tyler and Nikki were sent to Italy when a ping of plants coming to life and attacking people hit. During the investigation, it turned out that an exchange student had picked up George Fan's Sketchbook that still had the original PvZ concept art in it.

Plant List:

 * Peas
 * Sunflowers
 * Mushrooms
 * Cactus
 * Venus Fly Trap
 * Snapdragon
 * Coconuts
 * Marigolds/Daisy/Clover
 * Corn
 * Spring Bean
 * Watermellon
 * Cabbage/Lettuce
 * Cattails/Reeds