Love Mac gaming? Here are the 138 best Mac games available in 2019, from strategy and sports sims to RPGs, adventures, shooting games and puzzles, together with reviews and links to buy.
The year will soon be over but it shall be remembered as the one with some of the best Mac releases ever. The quantity of new MacOS games was equally impressive and today we’ll cover the greatest hits. But just to be clear: This is not a lame “Mac games of 2018” list with a bunch of old games. This is the only true “Best of 2018” list you’ll find as it covers only games released during the year. Without further ado, these are 2018’s Mac Games of the Year, including shooters, strategy games and every genre in between, from AAA powerhouses and indie studios alike.
Subnautica finds you exploring the underwater world of an alien planet. Because you crashed there, and now you need to gather resources to survive. It’s you against time and the environment, but what a gorgeous environment it is! The setup for Subnautica is really cool. Initially, you’ll only be able to explore the immediate area around your life pod.
But as you gather resources and develop equipment you’ll be able to venture out into deeper and more dangerous (and stunning) locales for rarer items. You’ll need to craft everything from simple knives for self-defense to complex watercraft for more efficient exploration. Gaining access to areas you could only see from a distance before proves quite rewarding both through the accomplishment itself and through what you could find there. Even better, deeper exploration also builds the lore of the game, providing a compelling narrative that’s often lost in survival titles such as this. It’s a survival game that’s more about science and less about twitch, and it’s quite engrossing. You may not be able to find another game that so perfectly balances serene, aquatic exploration with the stresses of underwater survival. Remember when you were playing Castlevania and thought, “Man, wouldn’t this game be amazing if you had to start at the very beginning every time you died?” No?
Well, regardless, that’s what you get to do with Dead Cells, a game that lists rage-quits amongst its features. Dead Cells is about progress exploration and acquiring the abilities to do so. The skills you unlock as you explore the procedurally generated levels are permanent, so you get to keep them even when you die. These skills will allow you to reach new areas each time you head out, allowing you to dig deeper into the game every time you play. The action is presented in a 2D retro-inspired world that will make fans of classic Castlevania and Metroid feel right at home.
Combat will be familiar, too, from the platform fights to the epic boss battles. But don’t think Dead Cells is yet another retro knock-off; it’s very much its own game, with the smooth animation and tight controls one would expect from a modern action title. Remember, though; like we said earlier, rage quitting is a feature, not a bug.
It’s hard to survive on distant worlds. It’s even harder when you’re one of three survivors of a shipwreck.
But such is the start of RimWorld, a sci-fi colony sim from Ludeon Studios. As your colony grows across forests, deserts, tundras and more, you’ll need to manage nearly every asset of your colonists’ well-being: mood, wounds, illnesses, addictions, relationships and more.
Of course, there’s danger, too. To survive, you’ll have to fend off pirates, animals, giant insects, and even ancient killing machines (why do the developers of killing machines know nothing of planned obsolescence?). Good news, thoughyou’ve at least got the technology to replace wounded limbs and organs with prosthetics, bionics, or biological parts harvested from those you couldn’t save.
Also, you’re not alone. There are plenty of options for trade and/or conquest, refugees to sell into slavery, weapons to discover and craft, and an unobtrusive AI tutor to help you get your start. And if you prefer animal companions, you’ll be able to tame and train pets for companionship, farming, and/or protection.
It’s a lot to manage, but that’s life on RimWorld. This game is the direct sequel to the Pillars of Eternity RPG, not the similarly named Deadfire Pack DLC released in 2017.
It’s confusing, we know, but we’re here to set things straight. In the standalone Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire, you return as a Watcher, a person who can read others’ memories and even the memories of their past lives. This gives you incredible power, but it also means you’ll have incredible enemies. In this particular case, it’s Eothas, the god of light and rebirth. That sounds pleasant, sure, but Eothas attacks your stronghold and leaves you for dead, so it’s now up to you to travel to Deadfire to confront Eothas for answersor revenge.
We’ll know when we get there. I said that Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire is a standalone game, but if you did play through the first PoE your actions in that game will carry over into this sequel. If not, summer’s just ahead and you’ll have time to play through them both. This 2D platformer from the developers of the classic TowerFall has been so well-received we want to make sure you didn’t miss it. Celeste centers around a young girl named Madeline and her adventure to the top of Celeste Mountain. She’ll meet many personable characters in her travels, and will learn more about herself along the way.
The touching narrative is actually one of the highlights of the game, providing more character development and incentive than we’re used to seeing from platformers. We also see increased difficulty. Celeste presents quite the challenge, much like the old-school 2D platformers on which it’s based. There are 700+ screens to beat and secrets to unlock (including “Brutal B-side chaptersbuilt for only the bravest mountaineers”), and dying is just part of the process. You’ll respawn right away, so no backtracking is necessary.
Jump, dash, climb, die, jump, dash, climb, advance. See if you don’t get hooked. Achieved something unique with their accurate reproduction of old-school cartoons. This really does look like a cartoon from the 1930s, with a lot of characters you may find somewhat familiar. The original jazz recordings help to recreate the feel of early cartoons. Of course, graphics don’t always sell video games, so it’s a good thing that the gameplay in Cuphead is flawless and a ton of fun. You play as Cuphead or Mugman (or both via local multiplayer) in an arcade action game that changes up styles between platforming, shmups, runners, and any mixture thereof as you explore a host of environments.
With super-moves to learn, secrets to uncover, and weapons to acquire and use, there’s plenty of frantic fun to be had as you attempt to pay back your debt to the devil. No wonder Cuphead became an instant indie sensation when it was released for Windows and we’re sure glad it’s now available for MacOS. “Defend your world. Destroy theirs.” That’s pretty much all you need for a successful game setup, right? But if you’re at all familiar with the Total War franchise, you know the game goes much deeper than that. Total War: Warhammer 2 is finally available on MacOS, once again combining the Total War and Warhammer franchises into an epic clash of turn-based campaigns and real-time tactical battles.
Players will be able to join the ranks of the Dark Elves, High Elves, Lizardmen or Skaven, then take control of thousands of soldiers, level-up legendary heroes, make strategic diplomatic decisions and more across hundreds of hours of single and multiplayer gameplay. Will you be able to perform the powerful arcane rituals necessary to stabilize the Great Vortex, or will you choose to disrupt it? No need to decide, really, as you’ll have plenty of time and nearly unlimited playthroughs to do bothuntil Total War: Warhammer 3 comes out, anyway.
This team-based shooter just left Steam Early Access and it did so 25+ million players strong. It’s free-to-play, in that although there are items to purchase within the game, anything you can buy can also be acquired by playing.
An example of this are the game’s Champions, including “sharpshooting humans, mech-riding goblins, mystical elves, and jetpack-clad dragons,” all of which can be customized with a deck building system. You can acquire these in battle or pay up front to unlock all current and future Champions (new ones are added regularly). Initially seen as an Overwatch clone that could be played for free, Paladins has become so much more. The game has good graphics, great support, and excellent gameplay.
Teamwork is key to victory, so choose your Champion wisely and set up a diverse team that communicates well. Paladins will also serve as good practice for s, a forthcoming online battle royal game that can be played solo, with a teammate, or in groups of four. It changes up the battle royal formula with mounts, epic items that provide survival bonuses, and cards scattered on the battlefield to upgrade your abilities. Oh, and you become a chicken when you die.
So, look forward to that, I guess. This tactical RPG from the developers of FTL: Faster Than Light was released for Windows in February, and now Mac gamers can enjoy it as well. Presented with retro graphics, Into the Breach initially looks like your typical turn-based battle game set on an isometric grid. However, the game has a very unique twist. As a reaction to movies such as Pacific Rim and Man of Steel where no one cares that entire cities get destroyed because at least the good guys won, Into the Breach tasks you with defeating the enemies while also protecting the surrounding structures. The battles themselves are waged between giant mechs and daikaiju (which I would also say is inspired by Pacific Rim except for the fact that such battles have been waged well before then). Defeating your enemies isn’t always the point, either, as it’s sometimes enough to sacrifice a unit to maintain position or defend another from attack, much like in a game of chess.
And speaking of chess, player reviews often point out the game’s difficulty. You’ve been warned. Lara Croft has risen. The first Tomb Raider reboot from Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics was brought to Mac in 2014 by the good people of, and they’ve now done the same with Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration.
This sequel sends Lara off to some of the more exotic locations on Earth, including ruins in Syria and the frozen mountains of Siberia. Granted, Lara now does more killing and lessyou knowtomb raiding than long-time fans would expect, but it all comes together for a typically thrilling experience. How you use the weapons and tools acquired throughout the game is entirely up to you, providing a sense of freedom as you hunt for supplies, eliminate enemies and uncover the secrets and treasures of the lush environments.
This lushness comes at a hefty price, though, as the system requirements will push your Mac to the limits. You can check our performance review for all the benchmarks and results. If your Mac is up to the task, you’ll also be rewarded with all of the game’s DLC in this package. That includes four additional challenges, endurance mode (with co-op play), additional difficulty settings, and more.
There’s no gaming genre that can’t benefit from a healthy dose of Norse mythology, and that’s what Northgard brings to strategy games. There’s a new continent to be explored and conquered, and that’s what your Viking clan will set out to do. Of course, it’s not going to be easy. There are rival clans to face, undead warriors and giants to defeat, and snow. Plenty of snow.
You’ll survive it all by building your settlement, putting your Vikings to work at different jobs, and expanding your territory to acquire more materials and strategic advantages. Northgard features online multiplayer against your friends or AI along with an 11 chapter single player campaign. In either mode, different victory conditions will help keep things fresh. So, whether you’re into real-time strategy games, Viking lore or both, Northgard is waiting to be conquered. If you’ve heard of the game Distance from developer Refract, it may be because it’s been in Steam Early Access since December of 2014!
And if you’ve been waiting for a full release, you’re in luck as Distance is finally out. If you haven’t heard of Distance, you should take a look (especially if you’re a racing fan). This futuristic racer is like no other you’ve seen, replacing loops on tracks with a straight burn to the end and giving you a car that can drive on the walls of the courses’ Tron-like structures.
It’s as much about parkour as it is about driving. Whether you’re racing alone against the clock in adventure mode, against “ghosts” in arcade mode to take over the leaderboards, or against others (up to 12 online or 2 to 4 in local split-screen), Distance looks to offer a highly atmospheric adrenaline rush. And thanks to its random track generation, you won’t grow tired of its courses any time soon.
It even has a level editor with over 2,500 user-created levels ready to go. If only the local road construction crews could be so efficient. Set three years before the events of the first entry in the critically acclaimed and BAFTA award-winning adventure game, Before the Storm puts us in the shoes of the rebellious Chloe Price as she forms an unlikely relationship with the popular Rachel Amber.
The two young women must confront each other’s demons and overcome them, and your decisions will affect how this happens. Each choice you make carries consequences throughout the game, leading to multiple possible endings. As if tapping into a teenager’s dream, in-game conversations come with a “backtalk” mode that allows you to use sass to get your way, and you can even leave your stamp on the game via custom graffiti. But don’t think from my description that Life is Strange: Before the Storm is just about teen angst and rebellion. This story and these characters carry incredible depth and will resonate with anyone who has ever felt thatwell, that life is strange. I imagine there are readers who visited this page just to make sure we included The Banner Saga 3, and they’re totally justified. This highly anticipated game draws Stoic’s award-winner Banner Saga series to a close, and the ending is very much affected by the choices you made when playing The Banner Saga 1 and 2.
For those not familiar with the series, The Banner Saga is a turn-based RPG with a story centered around a caravan of Vikings trying to survive in harsh environments. Strategic decisions affect the progress of the story; even the characters selected for combat can have permanent and major consequences. The Banner Saga 3 introduces deeper strategic combat along with new playable characters, enemies, upgrade options and more. It also retains the hand-painted artwork and tricky battle grids of its predecessors. Now that the game has been released, we hope you had time to play through the first two Banner Saga games. If not, be sure you do.
The Banner Saga 3 is now ready and waiting. Here’s another opportunity to rewrite the future of modern Britain and have plenty of fun doing it. Thrones of Britannia is a standalone Total War game that starts off in the year 878 A.D. Combining turn-based strategy with the real-time battles for which the franchise is known, Thrones of Britannia features the “most detailed Total War map to date.” You’re able to lead any of the ten available factions—including the Anglo-Saxons, Gaelic clans, Welsh tribes or Viking settlers—bringing plenty of replayability to the game. It’s not all about the nuances of leading your faction into combat, however. You also need to forge (and break) alliances, manage and protect your settlements, train your soldiers, and develop the proper strategy for your battles. Being able to quickly adapt when those strategies fall apart will be a big help, too.
Total War is among the most popular franchises available for Mac today, and with Thrones of Britannia, Feral Interactive has brought us one of the most engrossing entries yet. The problem with many “retro-inspired” video games is that they play like retro video games.
And whereas there’s a certain charm to that, there’s also a reason why we’ve continued to advance well beyond 16-bit NES style graphics and gameplay. The issue is longevity, but CrossCode provides plenty of that. A 2D action RPG at its core, CrossCode boasts of 30 to 80 hours of playtime, and it doesn’t do this by repeating elements or by encouraging speed runs.
Rather, it just offers up that much content. Its massive world offers up plenty of hidden secrets to locate and over 100 quests to take on. Between all of that, you’ll need to explore seven sprawling dungeons and take on over 120 enemies, including more than 30 boss fights. The slick combat system is also a highlight, encouraging you to master over 90 combat arts. Now, it was a while ago and I didn’t play everything, but I can’t recall a single NES-era game that offered that much content and diversity.
Stylized graphics, fast-paced combat, Zelda-style puzzles, plenty of contentit’s the kind of retro we can get into. You could farm alone, sure. But if you prefer your farming sims to be a little more social, then Farm Together is for you. Start with just a small plot of land, then plant some crops, raise some animals, and grow your farm until it stretches to the horizon.
The game plays out in real time, but that doesn’t mean you’ll constantly be keeping up on your chores. You can allow specific friends or the general public to help out, and you can even control how much they’re allowed to do. As on any farm, there’s plenty more to do than just tend to the crops and livestock. You’ve got fences, roads, and buildings to manage and decorate, a house to maintain (and relax in), neighbors to visit and help out, and pets to customize. You can even maintain some hobbies when you’re not out working the land! Of course, the main objective is to raise money. You’ll need in to invest in new buildings and facilities to help your farm grow.
It all adds up to a nice, relaxing, virtual break from city life. Has any fictional serial killer received as much gaming love as Jason Vorhees? Killer Puzzle marks the fourth video game based on the horror icon and may be one of the most bizarre yet. Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle is played on a small isometric game board. You slide Jason around the board in an effort to kill everyone in the fewest number of moves while avoiding various hazards.
In other words, it’s smart enough to know that moviegoers always took Jason’s side over that of the idiot teenagers. And with over 100 levels to play, that’s an awful lot of teenagers to kill. Fans of the series will get a kick out of the references to the films, including outfits from the movies and levels that take place in Manhattan and outer space. And if you enjoy Friday the 13th for the gore Well, it has that too, albeit in cartoon form.
In a nutshell, Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle is one of the best free Mac games 2018 has delivered so far. Just expect to pay for items such as new costumes, additional levels, etc. Rust is a massively-multiplayer action RPG in which you’ll explore, gather resources, build a base, and make friends and enemies. People should work together in order to survive, but largely just end up killing each other. You know how gaming communities are. The basic point of Rust is just to do whatever it takes to survive its apocalyptic world.
You start with practically nothing and must scavenge for the necessities of survival: food, shelter, fire, and (of course) weapons. Think Ark: Survival Evolved, without the dinosaurs.
A beautiful game with over 160,000 positive Steam User reviews (75% recently, 80% overall), the biggest complaint is about a sometimes toxic community that makes it difficult for newcomers. Yes, you can create alliances to help you along, but those easily break down leaving you all alone again, likely about to die. Of course, that’s just part of the fun, and eventually, you get to drive an army tank. See, this is what I like.
When we started to put this list together, Battletech was in the section. Now that we’ve published, it’s been moved to “already out.” Go grab it while you’re waiting for some of the others to be released. Because it’s BattleTech and it comes to us from (the original BattleTech/MechWarrior creator) and the developers of the Shadowrun Returns series. Here, the action takes place in the distant future of a galaxy in perpetual war. These wars are now fought with massive, mechanical combat vehicles, which instantly makes everything much cooler.
You command your own mercenary squad of combatants, which involves equipping and protecting your base, upgrading your mechs, hiring new mercenaries, and (of course) combat. It’s up to you to position over 30 BattleMechs in the field, using the terrain and special skills of your squad members to gain the upper hand. As one commenter on Steam put it, “XCOM and Shogun had a baby. It was 100 feet tall and had glowing red eyes.” We’re pretty sure that’s a recommendation. Getting to Mars is no longer the problem, it’s surviving once you get there.
You’ll discover this yourself in Surviving Mars, a new city builder set on the planet that has most fascinated sci-fi fans from the moment sci-fi was created. Developed by and published by Paradox Interactive, Surviving Mars starts you off with an agency for funding and a location for colonizing, and then it’s up to you to build your city and survive the harsh environment.
Mine for resources, cultivate food, build resource centers and shelters, and keep your citizens healthy and happy as you face the numerous challenges of surviving and thriving on a hostile planet. Surviving Mars will have you dealing with everything from the mystery of the black cubes to alcoholism, and it doesn’t give you a lot of help with tutorials. Users have also complained about the clunky UI. Still, if you’re looking for a unique entry in the city building genre, Surviving Mars is a big and welcome entry. Have you ever watched an episode of Grey’s Anatomy and thought, “I could do a better job of running a hospital than they do.” Well, here’s your chance, albeit with more focus on business and less onwell, you know. Your task here is to build a hospital from the ground up, making it the most attractive place for the citizens of Two Point County to come to cure what ails them.
Trouble is, what ails the citizens of Two Point County differs from what you’ll see at a normal hospital. Have you researched the cure for Cubism yet? Here you’ll need to.
You’ll also need to hire and train your staff, analyze your system’s strengths and weaknesses, take out loans to fund your research and expansions, and, of course, deal with doctors and nurses who are often more difficult than the patients. All this to prevent the next deadly pandemic. Remember, though, that this is modern medicine, and your hospital is there as much for the shareholders as for the patients. As the description says, you’ll need to “strive to make a profit (and hopefully save some people along the way).”. Some games get expansions, and then there’s World of Warcraft which released its seventh expansion in the form of Battle of Azeroth of August 13th. This MMORPG from Blizzard Entertainment has been serving up excitement since 2004, and obviously shows no signs of slowing down. It’s all good news for the game’s rabid fanbase, as they’re now able to raise their level caps to 120, have access to new dungeons, and are able to increase their bag slots beyond 16 for the first time since the game’s release.
Battle for Azeroth also brought new allied races, mounts, pets, and plenty more. As for the story, a new conflict between the Alliance and Horde has erupted following the events of Legion (the previous expansion), and the two factions must travel to the human nation of Kul Tiras and the troll empire of Zandalar to recruit new allies to their cause. Battle for Azeroth is available in standard, digital deluxe and collector’s edition packages, so figure out your level of interest (and investment) and start fighting. This war isn’t going to resolve itself, you know.
A lot of MacOS games came out in 2018. Thus we got to be very selective in choosing which games made the list.
So, how did we pull these particular games to the top? By focusing on these criteria: Native Obviously, the game has to run natively on macOS; no Wine, Parallels or Bootcamp needed. Hype level Here’s where we get more subjective, but each of these games has something very important going for it. It could be a much-anticipated sequel to a popular Mac game, it could be the developer’s name/pedigree, or it could be that we just really like the concept. Regardless of the reason, we’re buying into the hype for each of these titles.
There’s an awful lot to consider here, we know, but that’s a good thing. Whether you were waiting for a new entry in your favorite genre or looking to branch out into something different, the new Mac games of 2018 will give you plenty of options. Go ahead and get hyped for a few long-awaited sequels, get ready to dig into a few games that your Windows-using friends are already playing, or get something completely new when it becomes available. If you enjoyed a game that we didn’t cover here, be sure to let us know.
We’re always on the lookout for the next big game! Kirk's love for Apple and Mac gaming lead him to Applelinks.com in 1997, where he would eventually become editor.
He was then hired to become editor of AppleTell.com before it was bought out and shut down eight years later. During this time, he also contributed to GamerTell, Inside Mac Games, Mac Gamer’s Ledge, and Dealerscope.
Kirk is now vice president of client services at Dynamics Online, Inc, and is also co-founder and managing editor of BESTAppleTV.com, a website dedicated to viewing, gaming, and browsing on the Apple TV device.