Plants vs. Zombies began as an idea for a sequel to Insaniquarium, George Fan's fish-tank game, with aliens invading the garden. Fan then played Warcraft III tower defense mods and realised that plants could work as stationary towers. He changed the aliens to zombies after drawing what he called the perfect zombie, which gave the game a distinct identity. Enemies walk down fixed lanes toward the plants, so they can interact with defenders, a design choice that set it apart from other tower defense games. The team also made the tutorial teach by doing, and halved the cost of sun-producing plants so new players would learn resource collection. Fan spent about three and a half years developing it at PopCap Games.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.