There is a pretty major caveat for Mac owners, however. Ever since the release of macOS Catalina in 2019, modern Macs can no longer run 32-bit games, which is why we sadly left classics such as Portal and Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis off the list. There are workarounds, as are there for playing Windows-only games on Mac. But for the purposes of this list, we included only games that you can download and play without any knowledge of Parallels, Bootcamp or similar programs.
Video Games For Mac Pc
Wherever you choose to purchase the best Mac games, make sure that the game is Mac-compatible (check for a little Apple symbol), and will work with the version of macOS your computer is running. The system requirements section on a store page will usually provide this information.
There are few things as soothing as a good farming sim, and Stardew Valley set a new standard for the genre when it came out in 2016. Building on the legacy of the farming-themed games that came before (most notably the Harvest Moon series), Stardew Valley adds depth to almost every system: agriculture, animal husbandry, combat, friendship, exploration and more.
Speaking of Maniac Mansion (and when are we not?), its 1993 sequel Day of the Tentacle got the remaster treatment in 2016, bringing one of the funniest, most creative games of all time to modern systems. DOTT was widely regarded as a masterpiece throughout the 90s, and unlike many other games from the era, it holds up wonderfully. Time travel? Sentient tentacles? A plan to enslave humans? Making a time capsule with Thomas Edison? Day of the Tentacle has it all.
Like other games of this nature, Firewatch is extremely narrative-focused, and incorporates themes such as the fear of the unknown, and the loneliness of self-imposed isolation. Its success in storytelling so made it a top pick among critics and players back in 2016, and six years later, its story still resonates.
Now over a decade old, this indie hit remains a sterling example of how minimalism can serve video game design. Not everything has to be over-the-top and explosive. Likewise, not every plot point needs an in-depth explanation. If nothing else, Limbo will make you think, and leave you grasping to understand its hidden meaning.
Mac users have it rough. You get some of the best hardware on the market with super polished, stable software, yet so few games to play on it. But just because most developers aren't releasing their games for macOS doesn't mean you can't get PC games running on your Apple-made machine. It just takes a bit of finesse.
If you really want to play PC games to the best of your hardware's capability, you'll want to install Windows on your Mac using Boot Camp (unless you have an ARM-based Mac, which won't support Boot Camp). It's the easiest way to get games running and provides the best performance.
Okay, so you've exhausted all the Mac-compatible games in popular stores, and you're ready to tinker in order to get some other games running. Some Windows-only titles may run on macOS through Wine(Opens in a new window), a compatibility layer for Mac and Linux systems designed to run Windows programs. Wine itself can get rather technical to set up, especially when it comes to games, but there are a few third-party tools that make things easier.
While Porting Kit is the easiest and most up-to-date tool for installing games with Wine, other programs aim to do something similar, like PlayOnMac(Opens in a new window) or the $60 CrossOver(Opens in a new window). Some may work better with certain games, so your best bet is to search for "the best way to get [the game you want] running on a Mac." To browse Wine-friendly games before you buy, check out the Wine Database(Opens in a new window) alongside Porting Kit's library to get a feel for what might work on your system.
If you want to relive games from your youth, there's a good chance your favorite retro titles can be emulated on your Mac. There are plenty of emulators for retro game consoles out there, but Mac users have it pretty easy with OpenEmu(Opens in a new window), which can put all your favorite retro games in one place. Install the program, select the systems you want to emulate, and you're off to the races.
Download a game's files to your Mac (again, we'll leave it up to you to find them), put them in a folder (like /Documents/DOSgames), then open DOSBox and run mount c /Documents/DOSgames to turn that folder into your emulated C: drive. You can then launch your game by typing in the path to its EXE file (like C:\keendrms\start.exe) and pressing Enter.
Some games may work with no extra effort, while others may require tweaking, so check out the DOSBox compatibility list(Opens in a new window) or look up your games of choice to see what fiddling might be required.
If all those options sound a little too cumbersome, there's one more method that's far more plug-and-play: cloud streaming. Services like Nvidia GeForce Now and Xbox Cloud Gaming allow you to play games on a number of different devices, including your phone, tablet, PC, or Mac. Each is set up a bit differently.
GeForce Now has a free option that includes some wait time before you can play a one-hour session, with a $10-per-month plan that eschews these limits and improves graphical fidelity. You can play games you already own, but only those supported by GeForce Now.
Every Apple Arcade game is handpicked to bring together an incredible variety of games for all play styles and generations. Types of games include puzzle, strategy, adventure, simulation, board, card, sports, and more.
GeForce NOW uses the latest NVIDIA GeForce GTX GPUs, which deliver outstanding performance on demanding new AAA games. This makes it possible for GeForce NOW to stream games with settings and frame rates that exceed what is possible on most PC laptops, underpowered desktop PCs or even to content-deprived Macs.
Supported games on GeForce NOW are instantly installed onto your cloud gaming rig in seconds, and automatically applies the latest patches to games and NVIDIA Game Ready drivers. Sign into your Steam account and start gaming immediately.
Unfortunately in recent years a number of great games for Mac have declined because many are no longer supported. Every new version of macOS tends to break a few games, but macOS Catalina in 2019 meant that lot of games that used 32-bit code were no longer Mac compatible.
At the same time that Apple went 64-bit only it also introduced Metal for 3D graphics, which left a lot of games developers with a decision: make new Mac versions of their games or stop making them. Unfortunately many chose the latter.
Below you will find what we believe are the greatest Mac games out there, together with links to the Mac App Store, Steam and other reputable vendors, so you can buy them right away. These are the very best games for Mac. They are in alphabetical order, not in order of preference.
Company: Creative Assembly/ Feral InteractiveWhere to buy: Steam ($59.99/39.99)System requirements: macOS 10.14, 2GHz Intel Core i5, Radeon R9 M290 or Intel Iris 540 with 2GB video memory
In a previous version of this article, pre-M1, we talked about how the Mac gaming scene had picked up since Macs started to use the same Intel processors as Windows PCs (back in 2007). The strong sales of Macs in recent years also helped encourage developers to make more A-List games available on the Mac than ever before. Just check out our roundup of the best Mac games for some of the highlights.
In the pre-M1 days the Mac also has a cunning trick up its precision-engineered sleeve in the form of Boot Camp. Installing Windows via Boot Camp means it is possible to play Windows games on an Intel-based Mac. Alternatively, Parallels or VMware might have been considered options for PC gaming on a Mac.
If you really want to run un-ported Windows games on an M1 Mac Crossover Mac from Codeweavers is the best option available right now. It can translate x86-64 code for Windows to ARM64 code for macOS. Read: CrossOver 20 brings Windows apps to M1 Macs.
A decent display is also going to be a bonus, but since nearly every Mac (bar the entry level 21.5in iMac and the Mac mini) has a high-resolution Retina display, you can be sure that games will look great on your Mac. However, a Retina display needs a lot of power to drive all those pixels so you will need a GPU that can provide really good 3D performance.
But you can get even better GPU options from Apple. The M1 Pro offers a 16-core GPU, the M1 Max a 32-core GPU and the M1 Ultra a 64-core GPU. The graphics prowess of any of these machines will be suitable for playing games on a Mac.
Graphics performance will obviously vary depending on the type of games you like to play. The general rule of thumb is that if you intend to play fast 3D action games than any Mac fitted with Intel Graphics will probably be a disappointment.
The lack of games that were ready for the M1 Mac, either to run natively, or to run reasonably well via Rosetta, was a problem for some time, but now the situation is a lot better so it is easier to recommend M1-series Macs for gaming. 2ff7e9595c
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