Golkey

This may seem like a pretty subjective category, and I'd like to preface this list by saying that it most definitely is. That being said, there are some games that are just empirically good — great graphics, fun to play, great story, whatever. And though some folks might have you believe that Macs aren't meant for gaming, there are actually a ton of awesome titles to choose from.

• Best Mac Games Of 2018
• Great Mac Games 2016 Full

I'll try and leave out games that you can play on iPhone and iPad unless the Mac is the best place to play 'em.

Here are the best games for Mac!

Dec 22, 2016  The home for gaming on Mac machines! Here you'll find resources, information, and a great community of gamers. Please make use of the search button before asking questions, many have been answered already and it'll save you time! The macgamestore app is a good way to check if your machine will run a certain game. Some Standard Rules. Mar 20, 2020 For this reason, we put together a list of the best free games on Mac. And we mean truly free. As microtransactions are increasingly destroying games that would otherwise be great, we decided to focus on games that are either 100% free or are at least free-to-play games that can actually be enjoyed for free. Mar 10, 2020 Contrary to popular belief, there exists a bevy of awesome games available on Mac computers. From stellar indies like Night in the Woods to popular free-to-play Battle Royale Fortnite, take a look.

Note: Make sure you double-check the system requirements for each game before you make a purchase.

Firewatch

Firewatch, at its core, is a mystery game set in the Wyoming wilderness. You play as Henry, a man who decided to give the simpler life a try by joining a fire lookout team. Set in 1989, you watch for smoke during an especially hot, dry summer, aided via radio by your supervisor, Delilah. However, something draws you out of your tower and into the woods, where you must explore the unknown wild, making choices that could make or break your relationship with Delilah.

This is a gorgeous game, with a beautifully crafted open world, true-to-life characters, and a story that changes, depending on the choices you make throughout your story. Cissy Jones from the first season of The Walking Dead plays Delilah, and Henry is portrayed by Rich Sommer of Mad Men fame.

If you're looking for more than just a game — an experience — then Firewatch should be at the top of your to-play list. What starts as a simple game of watching for forest fires becomes a strange, twisty-turny, mystery-filled rabbit hole with new discoveries at every turn. It's like a book you just can't put down.

• $19.99 - Download now

XCOM 2

Set 20 years after XCOM: Enemy Unknown, XCOM 2 continues the turn-based tactics franchise in style, with much of the same gameplay that you love from the first one.

You'll once again play as the Commander, who, until the beginning of the game, was in alien stasis following Earth's surrender to the aliens. Once rescued by Central Officer Bradford, you'll resurrect XCOM and go to town reclaiming Earth from the aliens, one turn at a time.

If you love a good turn-based tactics game and you also love games like Halo or Mass Effect or even the first XCOM game for Mac, definitely check this one out.

• $49.99 - Download now

Life is Strange

Life is Strange is an episodic mystery game of sorts that has you playing as Max Caulfield, a photography students who randomly discovers that she has the ability to rewind time (saves her best friend's life). The pair end up investigating the disappearance of a fellow student, while Max struggles with the realization that altering the past can have consequences in the future.

Essentially, you go through the entire game making choices, and the choices you make can screw things up for you down the road or make life much easier (think Until Dawn). With well-crafted characters and a moving story, Life is Strange is for the folks who like a cinematic experience fraught with emotion (á la Heavy Rain). The first episode is $5 and you can buy subsequent episodes via in-app purchases.

• $4.99, with in-app purchases - Download now

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

This game may be a little old (like first generation Xbox old), but it's a classic and the fact that it's on the Mac is just wonderful. It's 4,000 years before the Galactic Empire and the Sith are just wiping out Jedi left right and central. So, of course, you're the last hope of the Jedi and you have to lead your brothers and sisters in arms in a last stand of sorts against the ultimate evil.

The cool part is you actually get to ultimately choose which side you want to be on, opting to conquer or save your fellow Jedi, using Force powers and sweet lightsaber moves all the way through. You get to customize your character and they change as the game goes on, depending on the choices you make and your style of play (kinda like the Fable series).

If you love an action-packed romp around the cosmos and, of course, Star Wars, then definitely download this right now. Keep in mind that it is an older game, but if you grew up with it like I did, it'll be a nostalgia-filled journey.

• $9.99 - Download now

Limbo

In Limbo, you play as a nameless boy who's unsure of what happened to his sister, so you enter Limbo looking for her, A.K.A. the 'edge of hell'. As the boy, you must journey through Limbo, as you encounter only a few other human characters who either attack you, run away, or are dead. You have to puzzle and platform your way to the end, and I'll be honest: It's rather unsettling.

Like, really unsettling.

There isn't much for a soundtrack, aside from nature sounds and physical sounds of running, jumping, and hits and such. If you're like a dark, creepy game, with a very open ending that's been hotly debated, then definitely check out Limbo. It's unlike anything you've ever played and the lack of a real narrative really gives it its atmosphere. (Watch out for that damn spider… BLECH).

• $9.99 - Download now

Braid

Braid is very similar to one of the most popular games of all time. Get into the actual gameplay, and you'll be like, 'THIS IS JUST SUPER MARIO', but then you'll sit back, listen to the AMAZING soundtrack, notice the little detail in Tim's hair while it flows in the wind when he runs, enjoy the beautiful scenery and interesting-looking enemies, and you'll be like, 'SUPER WHO?'.

In all seriousness, Braid is a lovely little game and it really emphasizes Tim's motives for rescuing the princess without ever saying exactly what they are or what exactly his 'mistake' was. Gameplay is quite simple; it's a Mario-style platformer, and you have to collect puzzle pieces along the way and slowly build a large puzzle in each world.

If you like platformers and love games with out-of-this-world soundtracks, then check out Braid.

• $9.99 - Download now

Thomas Was Alone

Believe it or not, playing a platformer as a faceless rectangle can actually be pretty fun. Of course, the right elements have to be there, like a killer soundtrack and, simply put, absolutely lovely narration by British radio a TV presenter Danny Wallace.

He tells the story of Thomas, a rectangle who is, you guessed it, alone. Thomas has to jump and slide his way through each level, entering a portal each time. Basically, all you can do is move right, left, and jump as you platform along, solving puzzles, and don't forget — the game's called Thomas Was Alone. This get significantly more interesting than you might think at the beginning. Get ready to feel stuff … for shapes. Not even kidding.

• $8.99 - Download now

Doom 3

What's there to be said? It's Doom — on the Mac. You're part of an elite marine division, sent to protect a Martian teleportation facility, and things are hunky dory until you're invaded by 100% evil aliens. So, you're going to have to walk down hallway after hallway, mowing down demonic aliens that can only be described as 'WTF'.

Doom is the classic first-person shooter and this 3D adventure only ups the ante, bringing you further into the world of monsters and insane weaponry. There's an online multiplayer element to this iteration, so replayability is definitely there.

If you're into classic first-person shooters where gore and horror abound, then Doom 3 is your bag, baby.

• $9.99 - Download now

Gone Home

Gone Home is a story exploration game where you examine objects and open drawers and doors to discover clues. You've been away for a year and come home thinking your family will be there to greet you, only to discover that the house is empty and you have no idea why.

Things may seem kind of creepy at first, and you'll uncover your sister's journal, complete with narration, as well as other objects from your childhood and things left behind. You likely won't expect the ending and you'll definitely feel all the feels throughout your journey, so be prepared for a lot of reading and an almost cinematic experience.

Gameplay is simple and barebones, but you like a good story exploration game, definitely check this one out, since it's pretty heavy on story.

• $19.99 - Download now

Sleeping Dogs

Crime never pays. I mean it does in terms of the money that gangs make from drugs and what have you, but it all comes back to bite them in the ass sooner or later. In Sleeping Dogs, you get to do the biting, playing as Hong Kong cop, Wei Shen, who's a streetwise badass martial artist, straddling the law and playing both sides to take down the city's biggest Triad gang.

If you enjoy open world games and have any love for the badassery of classic Hong Kong action movies, then Sleeping Dogs is right up your alley. You basically just get to go around kicking the crap out of criminals, while also playing the bad boy in some heavy undercover activity.

You'll have to live and learn as the game goes on, while honing your skills to survive twists and turns that are matters of life and death.

If you're up for an exciting action/adventure full of violence and intrigue, you got it.

• $29.99 - Download now

Darkest Dungeon

Darkest Dungeon is a very involved roguelike dungeon crawl with fantastic art, and an interesting twist on the genre, centering on the stress of adventuring. If your characters' stress levels get too high, you're gonna have a bad time.

You'll fight wave after wave of all sorts of ghouls in turn-based combat, simply trying to keep your party alive and calm. This game isn't just about defeating monsters, but about defeating your party's personal demons as well. You'll have to chill out at taverns to keep everyone's stress in check, camp to deliver pep talks, and save the characters you love from all-too meaningful permadeath.

Fans of Lovecraft will adore Darkest Dungeon for it's great horror and awesome hand-drawn art style that gives everything a gritty, visceral feel. If you like scary-ass RPGs, then check it out.

• $24.99 - Download now

Heroes of the Storm

Heroes of the Storm is a MOBA game in teams of five fantasy characters battle against one another for supremacy in a series of different game modes. You'll have to destroy opposing team members, as well as their structures to gain points for your team and ultimately win the match. Many MOBA-style games have the same problem: one person can be a hero and win the game on their own, while screwing over the rest of their team. Not the case in Heroes of the Storm, where if one team member isn't up to snuff, the rest of the team feels it.

One team, one dream!

Made by Blizzard, this is one of the best ARTS games around, with awesome characters, solid voice acting, great graphics, and necessary teamwork that doesn't make you want to drive your Magic Mouse through your 5K iMac screen.

HotS is free to play, but you'll be stuck with the playable characters offered to you, which rotate every week. You can earn gold in the game, but to get anything decent will take a looooong time. Therefore, you can buy heroes, skins, and mounts in the game with USD. Otherwise, play for free and just enjoy.

• Free, with in-app purchases - Download now

Portal 2

It doesn't matter which platform you're playing on, Portal 2 is hands-down one of the greatest video games of all time. It builds on the fun and weirdness of Portal from the Orange Box and throws you into a more fascinating story, with puzzles that never really feel like puzzles, since you're out of the testing chambers just trying to escape.

You once again play as Chell (the voiceless captive with the sweet boots and 'stubborn will to live') who is once again trying to escape the Facility, which she totally ruined years earlier. Wheatley, a personality core voiced by Stephen Merchant, revives Chell to escape the Facility with him, but all is not as it seems.

This game is incredibly atmospheric, often creepy and weird, as well as gut-bustingly hilarious. You'll learn about the history of the ruined Facility, mainly from GLaDOS (in an unusual form) and voice recordings from Aperture Science founder Cave Johnson, voiced by the legend J.K. Simmons (the funniest part of the game).

Portal 2 also has a sweet multiplayer mode where you play as testing robots Peabody and Atlas, working with a partner to frustratingly solve testing chambers (you might lose friends over some of the more difficult levels).

If you're at all into physics puzzles and hilarious, quirky games, then Portal 2 is not to be missed. Hell, even if you don't like puzzle games, play it. You'll be a better person for it. You can even download the stellar soundtrack for free

• $19.99 - Download now

Rocket League

It's soccer. With cars. There really isn't much more to say except that's it's freakin' awesome. Think of a physics-based FIFA with wild and crazy vehicles and full-frontal multiplayer mayhem. And if those aren't enough hype buzzwords then imagine yourself as a small child, forced to play soccer in order to 'build character'. Now imagine that you're a child driving a monster truck around a massive enclosed arena, smacking giant balls around and flying and flipping around because physics.

Yeah.

If you're kind of into multiplayer sports games, but prefer them with a side of absolutely wacky, then Rocket League is totally for you.

• $19.99 - Download now

Undertale

Undertale is for those of you who are just sick and tired of having to murder innocent, repulsive monsters. If you've ever thought 'why can't I just talk to the monster instead', then you should play Undertale.

In this indie RPG, you play as a child who has fallen into the Underground, which is a large, isolated region beneath the Earth's surface, separated by a magical barrier. Along the way, you'll meet monsters and have to face them in mini bullet hell combat, where you can choose to spare them instead of killing them. The choices you make affect the outcome of the game, including the story, dialogue, and the characters you meet, as you try and make your way back to the surface.

Undertale was released to excellent critical praise, garnering Game of the Year nods from multiple gaming publications. If you love a good top-down RPG, with fantasy elements and the ability to be a pacifist, then Undertale is great for feeling the feels or kicking some serious hiney.

• $9.99 - Download now

Civilization V

I have Civ V on this list instead of VI, but might add VI when the bugs are ironed out. Sid Meier's Civilization V has you ruling the world from the dawn of man all the way into the space age, where you will wage wars and conquer nations in the pursuit of progress and total domination.

You'll also discover new technologies, strike treaties, and all that other diplomatic stuff that world leaders do.

There is a multiplayer mode, though it is restricted to a LAN.

If you're into amazing turn-based strategy games and love a good game of Risk, then Civ V is calling to you. Answer it.

• $29.99 - Download now

Myst

Originally released in 1993, Myst was recently revamped for the Mac, so that you can explore the open world of Myst Island and its Ages in a gloriously rebuilt environment. The world is completely interactive and you'll have to discover and solve puzzles in order to find books containing access to all of the Ages.

The ending of the game changes depending on the choices you make, and you'll be torn between helping one of two brothers or their father, with your own fate entirely unknown until it's too late. Myst is an absolute classic and the graphics update puts a modern spin on it, bringing the Myst you grew up with into the 21st Century.

If you love a classic puzzle game, a story filled with intrigue and twists, and open-world exploration games, then totally check out Myst.

• $17.99 - Download now

What do you play?

What's your favorite game for the Mac? Any absolute essentials I may have missed? Let me know in the comments below!

We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.

Another day, another iPhone 12 Pro concept. How much would you pay?

If reports are accurate we might be waiting a little while longer than normal for iPhone 12 Pro. But would you care if it looked like this?

Thehistory of ClarisWorks
How to put multipleMac operating systems on yourMac.
ClassicMac Resource Page
Apps thatwill run in 68000 Macs.
MacTreasures.com- find older hard to find and outof print software
Yetmoreshareware
Mac apps inSpanish
InternetExplorer for Mac and PC's

Email

EudoraLite 1.5.5 - Thisone works on a Plus under system 7 or up.
EudoraLite 1.3.1 forsystem 6.

FaxSoftware

ValueFax,a shareware program that's small (2.5 MB RAM and 2 MB of disk spacerequired). Also runs on 6.0.5 or higher on anything 'better' than aPlus.

HyperCardGames

Internet

GetYour Compact Mac On the Web!!

Here's everything you need toget that ole doorstop online

Best Mac Games Of 2018

Yes, Virginia, you CAN get anold black and white Mac on the web. This Doc Maker application givesyou all the juicy details. Mentioned in Mac Addict and MacUsermagazines. Over 20,000 downloads so far.

• Get Your Compact Mac on the Web - HTML version (sorry, no pics. Maybe some day)
• Get Your Compact Mac on the Web (Doc Maker Application)
• Get Your Compact Mac on the Web (Text Version)
• Get Your Compact Mac On the Web! (HyperCard Version) Needs HyperCard Player or HyperCard 2.1 or up.

Other Classic InternetSoftware

DownloadAOL Instant Messenger for 68kMacs here

and here

ZTerm- From Polarnet's web site, popular terminal emulation program forMacs. Works on the 512 or up.

HyperCardstack of theabove tutorial.

WannaBe Text Only Web Browser- great little(490k!) browser for PowerMacs and 68k Macs. Needs 7.1 and the DragManager and Thread Manager or 7.5 or up to run. PPC Version uses 2.2megs.

MacLynx- text only web browser

MattiHaveri's FAQ's -68000 FAQ, Internet FAQ for older Macs, more

Spreadsheet

Try BiPlane.It's shareware ($29) and is MS Excel compatible. System 6.03 and up,needs 1 meg of ram!

SumIt - works on a Plus or up, needssytem 7.
MarinerLE - another tiny spreadsheetwith a tiny ram footprint.

Utilities

Great Mac Games 2016 Full

• Analyse+
• AutoBlack
• AutoBlack 2
• Bombs
• Camera
• canvas Da - must have a copy of canvas
• ChangeFont 1.03 - change your system font under system 6
• Choose ScrapBook+ - multiple scrapbook
• ChooseCDEV_
• Commander 2.0 - commands for modems
• Commands 1.0 - ommands for modems
• DeskZap 1.3
• DevTools 2.2
• DiskInfo 1.43
• Earthplot 3.0
• Immortality 0.93
• LockOUT v1.0
• MiniDraw
• Molasses
• Pyro!_ - screen saver
• Reverse Screen INIT
• Saviour
• SetFile
• ShutDownSound INIT
• Stuffit 1.13
• Stuffit v1.10
• Tab Expander DA
• Typer DA
• UnStuffIt 1.00
• Windows 2.0
• Area Code Find
• MacSpin.sit.hqx

  Programming

  REALBasic webring - todays HyperCard works on 68020 Macs and up.
  REALBasic mailing lists
  REALBAsic search engine
  Rinaldi's HyperCard XCMD's for REALBasic
  HyperCard officially dead?
  Programming for System 6
  Serf - a new alternative to HyperCard
  SuperCard - an oldie but goodie alternative to HyperCard (new version just shipped).
  MetaCard - runs on Intel, Unix and Mac, but expensive.
  HyperStudio - Many schools use it, it is a little less powerful than HC or SC.
  Apple's own free MPW
  MOPS - a robust and powerful public-domain development system for the Macintosh.With Forth and Smalltalk parentage, Mops has extensive OOP capabilities including multiple inheritance, and a class library supporting the Macintosh interface
  REALBasic - very cool HyperCard-Meets-Basic programming environment. Let's you make Windoze or Mac apps with ease.
  MacInTouch's old software forum - lists many emails pertaining to old programs that have resurfaced as free. Very interesting reading.
  Think Pascal 4.5 is now free.
  TrueBasic - written by the original writers of Basic back in 1964.
  Chipmunk Basic - Really cool freeware starter kit for novice programmers. Runs on the 512k to the new blue and white G3's.
  MacZoop - Freeware C++ object oriented programming.
  HyperCard - what can I say? Probably THE easiest programing language out there. This is where Visual Basic, Director, mTropolis, Myst, and thousands of home - made applications came from. Even the World Wide Web owes much of itself to Bill Atkinson's HyperCard. Highly highly recommended for beginner programmers as well as database admins, game makers, listserve moms, and kids of all ages.
  Apple's MPW Pascal for 68k Macs.
  http://s93768914.onlinehome.us/

  HyperCard Links

  Wired article on HyperCard
  History of the Apple logo
  Alternatives to HyperCard (HC is not compatible with OS X)
  Great HyperCard article from 1987
  Univsersity of Michigan FTP site
  Info-Mac FTP Site
  Info-Mac Web Site
  Apple's HC Community Page
  Teach Yourself HC
  HyperCard Resource Page
  Jeanne's House 'O HyperCard
  HyperCard 10th Anniversay Stack
  HyperScan - A HyperCard stack that allows you to scan directly into HyperCard stacks.
  

  Music/Sound Software

  MusicTime - works on a Classic or up (should work on a Plus or up too, it's the same chip.
  Super Studio Session - Free MIDI software - Mac Plus or up.
  Using older Macs for MIDI
  More older Macs and MIDI
  MacMusic
  AudioMac
  MIDI Tool for older Macs
  Make your own Mac MIDI interface
  A sampler for ancient Macs as well and G4's
  MIDI Musician
  VERY old MIDI app for Macs
  

  Mac Freeware
  Mac 68k Games site
  and more - games
  More old gamesPacman game - looks just like the original. Works on color Macs only.
  MacMan game - just like Pacman, works on a Plus on up (even my iMac!)
  Some Old Mac Network Games From Rick VanDerveer
  Star Wars - cool vector graphics arcade game. Works on the Plus with sound.
  bolo homepage: http://www.lgm.com/bolo/
  bolo tracker: http://tracker.lgm.com:50001/
  bolo ftp archive: ftp://ftp.lgm.com/bolo/
  Hundreds of black and white games awaiting your arrival.
  Kids Domain
  Old Mac software
  http://lightning.prohosting.com/~classicm/games.html
  http://homepage.mac.com/giantmike13/old.html
  http://www.kidsdomain.com/down/oldmac-ftp.html
  http://www.kidsdomain.com/down/oldmac.html
  ftp://ftp.torget.se/macgate/pub/old/
  http://www.w42.de/crypt/
  http://www.w42.de/despair/
  http://www.liepins.de/offroading/index.shtml
  http://home.hawaii.rr.com/m68kg/links.html#OGA
  http://www.umich.edu/~archive/mac/game/space/

  System Software

  Using shareware to turn 7.1 into 7.6
  Good article on the history of the Mac OS.
  All about the early Mac OS by Andy Mesa
  Minimum requirements for Mac OS 7.1 - 7.6 including all about system enablers.
  What's In the System Folder? - a brief tutorial for newbies.
  Interesting comparison of Mac OS 1 and Mac OS 7.
  Mac System software history form 1.0 to 8.6. Pretty interesting...
  Installing Mac OS 7.5.3
  Mas OS system enablers and the systems they go with.
  What's a system enabler?
  Upgrading 7.1 -add Apple's Drag and Drop features to System 7.1
  Thread Manager - Give 7.1 another 7.5 feature
  What Operating System should I use on my older Mac and where can I get it?
  MODE32 - I can't believe I didn't put this up a long time ago... if you have a 32 bit 'dirty' Mac such as the II, IIx, IIfx, IIcx or SE/30 and you have more than 8 megs of ram, you'll need MODE 32. That's the simple explanation.
  Make a Mac boot disc on a PC - previously impossible
  Finder Heap Fix for system 7.5.5 - give the finder more memory (and fewer crashes)
  Go to info.apple.com for System 6.x, 7.0 and 7.0.1.
  Get OS 6.08 here.
  Sign the Abandonware Petition to persuade the software companies to give away older apps for older Macs.
  System 7.5.3 is now free! Update it to 7.5.5 for free too!
  Where to download Mac OS - from system .97 to 7.5.5.
  Memory requirements of all 68k compatible Mac operating systems.
  Apple's Support For Older OS's (Apple TIL)
  Apple's Software Updates Page
  The really old Systems from the Mac 512 UG
  Macintosh System Downloads from Low End Mac
  McOrphan's System 6 Page
  Apple HD SC Setup Patch - lets you format a non-Apple drive. (Runs on all 68k Macs, some PowerMacs).Drive
  Mas OS system enablers and the systems they go with.
  Using Kaleidescope on B&W Macs.
  Another page on using shareware and free software to beef up your old OS.
  System 6 tips and tricks and software.
  Word Processors

  Nisus Compact - works under system 6 all the way up to 9.
  TexEdit - works under system 6 all the way up to 9. Speaks text under system 7 with speech software
  installed, opens picts.
  BBEdit Lite - opens just about anything, works under system 6 thru 9.
  

  Drivers

  Older Macintosh Driver Software From Bhavesh Patel
  Old HP Drivers For Classic Macs
  LIDO is a great Mac SCSI driver formatter.
  Mac Ethernet Drivers
  Daystar Drivers - not free
  MicroMac Drivers Page
  The Electronic Phoenix Project - saving old out of print software form extinction.
  The Classic Mac Driver Museum Forum - find a long lost driver
  More old Mac software, drivers, etc...
  
  • Apple 3.1
  • CD Technology
  • Chinon
  • Metro Cd
  • NEC
  • PLI

  s©1996-04 JagWerks Media