Summary

• Apple's macOS offers a solid selection of great games for any player's taste, including award-winning titles like Resident Evil Village.
• MacBooks and iMacs have a variety of gaming options, from FPS to grand strategy to epic RPGs, with top games available on macOS today.
• Popular games like BioShock, Final Fantasy XIV, and Lies of P are available on macOS, providing unique and immersive experiences for Mac s.

Resident Evil Village on iOS.

But owners of MacBooks and desktop iMacs need not despair - when it comes to gaming, they have a lot of options, too. Spanning the genres from first-person shooters, to grand strategy, to epic RPGs, these are ten of the best games available to play on macOS today.

10 BioShock Is An Atmospheric, Thought-Provoking FPS For Mac

Metacritic Score: 96

BioShock, first released in 2007, was a game-changing FPS. Players take on the role of protagonist, Jack, who's mysteriously drawn to the ruins of the insular underwater city of Rapture. There, he must fight his way through hordes of genetically-modified socialites as he attempts to rescue the mysterious Atlas and his family. Tensely atmospheric and full of twists and turns, BioShock is a cautionary tale about the pitfalls of Objectivism, and happens to be a pretty good shooter besides.

The entire BioShock trilogy, not just the first game, is available for macOS.

BioShock features a variety of elemental powers besides its more typical arsenal of weapons. Players can use the environment to their advantage, electrifying pools of water and hacking automated security turrets to defend themselves against the horde. It also includes one of the most iconic video game bosses of all time in the Big Daddy. The end result is an iconic, memorable, and ultimately revealing journey through a terrifying world. The entire trilogy is available for macOS via the online video game marketplace Steam.

9 Final Fantasy XIV Offers Accessible MMO Action On Mac

Metacritic Score: 86

For those who prefer their gaming experiences shared, Final Fantasy XIV offers everything they could want in an MMO, and more. With hundreds of hours of gameplay between the base game and its five expansions, including the most recent, Dawntrail, FFXIV has enough content to keep a player invested for years. It features variable, satisfying MMO combat, mostly focused on positioning and combos, through a variety of encounters designed for all skill levels. For a moment's peace, players can engage in a variety of mini-games, like chocobo racing or Triple Triad, or level up crafting classes for fun and profit.

FFXIV can also be a very social game, with a huge community of ive, creative players, and a robust system of learning and mentorship. And the best part is that FFXIV has an extended free trial, allowing players to hit level 70 between the base game and two expansions, with no restrictions on playtime.

8 Lies Of P Is One Of The Best Soulslikes On Mac

Metacritic Score: 80

Lies of P is the (unofficial) spiritual successor to Bloodborne that never was. Drawing on classic tropes of Gothic horror, alongside the beloved fairy tale of Pinocchio, Lies of P combines several familiar elements into something greater than the sum of its parts. It follows the titular P as he travels the ruined city of Krat, attempting to survive a concurrent epidemic and puppet uprising. It even features a branching story based on the player's decisions to tell the truth or lie in Lies of P, with the story's ultimate conclusion depending on their cumulative truthfulness.

Lies of P is a Soulslike, which means it draws on the fast-paced, challenging combat of games like Dark Souls and Elden Ring. But it's not just any Soulslike - while many of the genre's imitators fail to live up to the FromSoft originals, Lies of P introduces many of its own, original ideas to set it apart from its peers. It's available on macOS via the Mac App Store.

7 Death Stranding Is A Strange Journey From The Mind Of Hideo Kojima

Metacritic Score: 85

Conceived and directed by Hideo Kojima, the creator of the Metal Gear series, Death Stranding is every bit as strange as one might expect. It's a genre-bending adventure through a dystopian future, in which the dead never really die and most of America lives in near-total isolation. Players control Sam, a porter for the Bridges company, who travels the fractured United States, attempting to bring the survivors back into by connecting them to the Chiral Network. Featuring an unbelievable cast, including the likes of Norman Reedus, Léa Seydoux, Mads Mikkelsen, Margaret Qualley, Guillermo del Toro, and more, it's a star-studded, emotional story that players aren't likely to forget.

Death Stranding is most easily classed as an action platformer, with elements from the stealth and third-person shooter genres. Players must balance heavy loads of packages as they traverse difficult terrain, fend off poachers, and sneak past ghosts. It also features a unique type of asynchronous multiplayer in which the helpful structures one player puts down will remain available for others who travel through that area. Death Stranding is available via the Mac App Store, and there's also a Death Stranding 2 on the way, which may also eventually get a macOS release.

6 XCOM Is A Challenging Tactical Strategy Game

Metacritic Score: 89

For those who prefer a strategic element to their games, the XCOM series offers the perfect distraction on Mac. Featuring challenging, tactical gameplay, XCOM positions players as of the titular anti-alien agency, as they attempt to defend planet Earth from a group of mind-controlling aliens called Outsiders. In the first game of the recent series revival, XCOM: Enemy Unknown (a 2012 reimagining of the 1994 original), there's an element of luck to each level, as maps and enemy placements are determined randomly, and each soldier's chance to hit is subject to a roll of the dice.

Two modern XCOM games, Enemy Within and XCOM 2: War of the Chosen, are available on Mac via Steam.

Players can improve their chances by reverse engineering alien technology between outings, increasing their tactical options. XCOM 2 furthers all these concepts with procedurally generated maps, an additional character class, and improved options for base management.

5 The Resident Evil 4 Remake Brings Survival Horror To Mac

Metacritic Score: 93

Resident Evil 4 is one of the great classics of survival horror, and its faithful 2023 remake is available on Mac. In this sequel, former Raccoon City police officer Leon Kennedy visits a remote village in Spain, tasked with tracking down and safely returning the President's daughter. But between the two of them stand hordes of mind-controlled villagers, priests, and mutated monsters who would stop at nothing to serve their evil lord.

Resident Evil Village and the remake of Resident Evil 4 are both available via the Mac App Store.

Resident Evil 4 is generally credited with reinventing the series, introducing a third-person free camera that puts more emphasis on fast-paced action than tense survival. It takes place in an unforgettable setting, full of bone-chilling views, iconic characters, and dark, ancient secrets. Besides accurately adapting the original game for modern platforms, the Resident Evil 4 remake includes new content, including unique enemies and a sequence that allows players to control side character Luis.

4 Hades Is The Mac's Best Roguelike

Metacritic Score: 93

For something a little bit simpler, Hades can't be beat. It's a roguelike action game with a strong basis in Greek myth. Players control Zagreus, in this setting the son of Hades, as he searches the underworld for clues about his origins and, ultimately, a way out. Each run is different, as players face a wide variety of enemies, find new power-ups, and make new friends. Each time Zagreus dies, he returns to the start slightly more powerful, and must begin his long climb to freedom anew.

Hades is simple, but effective - its battles are thrilling, and the sensation of victory just outside one's grasp makes it hard to put down. With gorgeous character art, it's a sight to behold. Hades is available on Mac via Steam. Its sequel, Hades 2, is still PC-exclusive while it's in early access, but there's a chance of a Mac release later. Either way, it's worth playing the original first.

3 Civilization 6 Is The Ultimate Strategy Game For Mac

Metacritic Score: 94

As for grand strategy, there's no better option on Mac than Civilization 6. The latest installment in the hit turn-based strategy series, Civ 6 allows players to select from one of 67 (with all expansions) legendary world leaders, start as a burgeoning nation, and (hopefully) grow into a centuries-old empire. They'll have to compete with countless other civilizations, which may be controlled either by AI or by fellow players, for domination.

Civilization 4, 5, and 6 are available via Steam.

There are multiple paths to victory in Civ 6, and each leader has a unique ability when controlled by the player to help with those. When AI-controlled, each leader instead has a unique personality that makes for a lot of replay value. Though complicated, it's pretty accessible even for genre newcomers, and makes the perfect starter strategy game for those looking to delve deeper. Civilization 6 is available via Steam, and Civ 7 is also expected to be playable on Mac when it's released in 2025.

2 Disco Elysium Is A Unique RPG For Mac

Metacritic Score: 91

Disco Elysium is an outlier. It's a detective RPG like no other, in which players control an amnesiac cop in an unfamiliar world who has drunk himself into total amnesia. Yes, he's forgotten everything from the day of the week to his own name. As he traverses the once-great city of Martinaise, he'll have to piece together not only who committed the murder, but also his own identity and the nature of the surrounding world.

This is aided by the innovative Thought Cabinet system, in which players can choose which beliefs they incorporate and which they discard. Each affects the detective's options and abilities. Every character in Martinaise is an oddball, with a unique worldview that inevitably leaves an impression on the player. And every word they choose matters. Their decisions shape their very identities, leading to a memorable and thought-provoking variety of conclusions. Disco Elysium is available through Steam.

1 Baldur's Gate 3 Is The Best Game For Mac

Metacritic Score: 96

What else is there to say about Baldur's Gate 3? Winner of five major Game of the Year awards, it's been so widely lauded that it's hard to do it justice. But for the uninitiated: Baldur's Gate 3 is an RPG set against the Forgotten Realms campaign backdrop for Dungeons & Dragons. Players can create their own characters or play as one of eight Origins, traveling across a beautiful and terrible fantasy world as they attempt to find a cure for the parasitic worms inside their heads, only to discover a much larger conspiracy.

All three Baldur's Gate games are available for Mac via Steam.

What truly sets BG3 apart, though, is its commitment to player freedom. There are seemingly infinite ways to resolve almost every situation, and almost every single one is met with an equal and opposite consequence from the game and its NPCs. Beyond that, it hosts a memorable cast of characters, and an incredibly variable story that responds to the player's every move. All that makes Baldur's Gate 3 the best game on Apple's macOS to date.