The Mac is not known as the ultimate gaming machine, but you can still play well on it. In this guide we explain how to do that!
Gaming on a Mac
Gaming has never grown as big on the Mac as it did on the PC. Although the offerings are slowly improving, Apple still doesn’t seem to fully understand this form of entertainment. In a recent presentation, Death Stranding for Mac was the great example that the company is now really taking games seriously. This game was already released for game computers in 2019 and for PC in 2020.
Do you want to start gaming on a Mac yourself? In this guide we tell you what the possibilities are, what software you need, what kind of devices you can connect and of course what you can play.
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Why gaming on Mac and PC is so different
On a PC with Windows you have a huge selection of games available. In addition, new releases are always immediately available. At Apple, the range is somewhat more limited.
PCs are more interesting for gamers because you can easily upgrade these computers. For example, it is quite easy to put a better video card in a PC for better graphics. Most game makers also work with DirectX to optimize their games and this software does not work on macOS. Due to the limited demand, it is often not worthwhile to make these games playable on a Mac.
Fortunately, this difference is getting smaller with the switch to Apple’s own chips. The M1 and M2 chips appear to be able to run games very well. In addition, Apple recently introduced the Game Porting Toolkit, making it much easier for game makers to transfer their DirectX games from PC to Mac.
Connect controllers to Mac
You can of course use a keyboard and mouse for gaming, but a controller is better for many games. You can easily connect the controllers of the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S, among others. Since macOS Ventura, some popular racing wheels and pedals can also be used.
To connect a wireless controller, go to Settings > Bluetooth and then put your controller in pairing mode.
- PlayStation 4 controller: Press and hold Share and PlayStation buttons at the same time until the light on the back starts blinking.
- PlayStation 5 controller: Press and hold the Create and PlayStation buttons at the same time until the light bar starts blinking.
- Xbox controller: Press and hold the pairing button until the Xbox logo flashes.
Then click on ‘Connect’ on the Mac and your controller is connected!
Since macOS Ventura you will find a separate corner for game controllers in the settings (at the very bottom). Here you can give buttons a different function. Consider taking a screenshot.
Where to find Mac games
You can find a small selection directly from Apple in the App Store, under ‘categories > games’. There you will find Resident Evil Village, Disco Elysium, Psychonauts 2 and Rise of the Tomb Raider, among others.
Steam is also the largest digital store for buying games or playing free games. Alternative digital stores are Good Old Games and the Epic Games Store. If you are looking for more small, experimental games from individual makers, itch.io is the place to be.
Apple also has Apple Arcade. With a subscription of 4.99 euros per month you can play a wide range of smartphone games on your Mac. Games like Alba: A Wild Life Adventure, Oceanhorn 2, LEGO Star Wars: Castaways and Sonic Racing work well with a controller.
Play and stream Windows games
In the stores above you can buy games that are made to work on Mac. There is also a way to play games on a Mac that should only work on Windows, such as the popular Diablo 4.
If you have a Mac with an Intel processor, you can use Boot Camp for that. With Boot Camp, you can use Windows on your Mac in addition to macOS.
If you have a Mac with an Apple chip (M1, M2 or newer), it is a bit more difficult. Your options then are to go through Apple’s complicated Game Porting Toolkit (not recommended) or simply stream the game. Streaming is possible with, among other things Boosteroid, which allows you to stream individual games. Or via Shadowwhich gives you access to a full Windows PC.
Pay attention to the system requirements
There are many different games and many different Macs, and they don’t all work well together. So before you buy a game, you should take a good look at the system requirements. For example, you have to check which version of macOS you should run at least, but also how much memory you need and how fast the processor should be.
If you click on the Apple icon in the top left and then on ‘About this Mac’, you will get more information about what’s in your Mac.
What you should take into account anyway is that for graphically impressive games, such as Baldur’s Gate 3 or Resident Evil Village, you really need at least an M1 chip.
Optimize your Mac for gaming
Are you going to game? Then make sure you have downloaded all recent updates and have enough space to install the game on your Mac. In addition, games can be quite taxing on your Mac, so close as many apps as possible so that all processing power goes to the game.
From macOS Sonoma, the operating system offers a special game mode, which gives the game the highest priority from the computer.
In addition, it always pays to dive into the settings of the game. If you notice that a game is not running smoothly, you can, for example, lower the resolution or disable some graphics options in the settings.
These are the best Mac games
But what are you going to play then? Here’s a selection of some of the best games available for Mac across a variety of genres.
1. Baldur’s Gate 3
Baldur’s Gate 3 from the Belgian Larian Studios is a very extensive fantasy role-playing game, based on the rules of Dungeons & Dragons. That means that with each action, a die is rolled to see if the action succeeds or fails. Did it fail? Then that’s no problem, because this game is so incredibly extensive that every path you walk has its own stories. So you can play this game several times for a completely different experience.
2. Hades
In Hades you play Zagreus, the son of Hades who wants nothing more than to escape from hell. For that he will have to die very often first. This game shines with great combat, cool style and fun characters.
3. The Sims 4
In The Sims you can have endless fun building houses and helping your sims. The Sims 4 is already relatively old, but the game has expanded enormously with new stuff in recent years. For example, horse lovers will be served at their beck and call with the new Horse Farm expansion.
4. Sid Meier’s Civilization VI
The iconic Civilization series has been delighting fans of deep strategy games for decades. Each turn you can take limited actions to advance your civilization. Are you making the right choices to outsmart your opponents? Civilization VI is fine to play on your own, but the game shines when you take on friends.
Disco Elysium
Like Baldur’s Gate 3, the game Disco Elysium offers you a lot of freedom in filling in your characters and the story, but this game does so in a modern fantasy setting and without traditional action. Disco Elysium excels mainly because of the writing.
Final Fantasy XIV
If you’re looking for an MMORPG on the Mac (the kind of game with countless other players in a shared world), you can’t beat Final Fantasy XIV. The great thing about this game is that you can play a huge part for free. Only if you really like it, and you’ve already spent tens to hundreds of hours, can you pay to see the rest.
Stardew Valley
If graphics aren’t the most important thing to you, but you just want a nice, fun game to spend time with, then you should try Stardew Valley. In this game you inherit your grandfather’s dilapidated farm, which you restore while building relationships with the residents of the nearby village.
Resident Evil Village
Resident Evil Village is graphically one of the most impressive games for the Mac. In this game you play as Ethan Winters who ends up in a terrifying nightmare full of zombies and other scum.