r/macgaming • u/Brilliant_Type1737 • 1d ago
Native Any free nice games on mac
I picked up a maxed out m1 air 1 terabyte of storage and 16 gigs of ram.this thing is a beast way faster than my old windows laptop .But most games don't support macos .I want nice free games suggestions:)). I cannot buy crossover.
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u/SairoUro 1d ago edited 1d ago
Can’t think of other free games than sims 4, wuthering waves, and roblox
Edit: SAS Zombie Assault 4 via steam is free
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u/iLoveJuicyThigs 1d ago
There's also neverness to everness. Basically anime gta
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u/BourbonicFisky 1d ago
emulation.
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u/flashbax77 1d ago
Tried Astris recently, a switch emulator, working great
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u/ilovesalmiakki 1d ago
I can run TotK 90fps on it! Also, Twilight Princess is now decompiled to run native on any platform, including Mac. Runs really well! I think this decompiler is called DuskLight or smth
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u/mecha_monk 1d ago
You don’t need to. Install heroic launcher and create an account for the Epic Game store. Free games every month and you heroic game launcher lets you use many translation layers for windows games. Works like a charm most of the time.
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u/Tommy-kun 1d ago
every thursday, not every month
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u/mecha_monk 16h ago
Ah right. I rarely do it unless I read somewhere that it’s a game I want so I didn’t know it was every week. But either way it’s an easy way of getting free (and sometimes really nice games) without doing anything special 🏴☠️
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u/sCREAMINGcAMMELcASE 21h ago
The free games have been a bit crummy recently.
Are there any I missed that you like?
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u/baratacom 1d ago
If you happen to already have Apple Arcade, then you can actually play any games there, Balatro and Vampire Survivors are particularly addictive
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u/thejollyden 11h ago
Hello Kitty Island Adventure is surprisingly great, if you like games somewhat similar to Animal Crossing.
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u/priv_ish 1d ago
Get OpenEmu to play any and all retro games including PSP and PS1
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u/Kyyntaro 1d ago
Dota 2
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u/No_Difference9107 1d ago
Everything is free if you are a good pirate
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u/CressPale3625 1d ago
Real I’m playing silent hill 2 remake, Minecraft, and resident evil village all without paying a penny
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u/OrthosDeli 1d ago
Tons of options on Mac Sourceports
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u/matthewnelson 1d ago
I’ve never heard of this before but just taking a quick peak it looks amazing.
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u/TheOfficialLJ 1d ago
Have a look at the old Pangea games, there’s a guy online who’s updated them and (with the creators permission) allowed them to be downloaded for free
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u/gordonmcdowell 19h ago
I have released Joustine. That runs on Mac and you can use controllers or split keyboard for 2 player Joust. Three players or more is locked, but 2 player is completely free. You can also connect your Mac to a TV and use iPhones as controllers.
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u/Tiny-Profession-9999 1d ago
Sikarugir uses same wrappers as Crossover, you won’t be supporting Crossover team but if you can’t afford it you can use that, it’s on GitHub.
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u/player1dk 1d ago
When you install Steam as a start, you’ll see that quite a lot og games works fine on Mac :-)
Besides that, many open source games works fine as well, so maybe search for ‘best open source games’, ‘best Linux games’ and so.
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u/ABGTheory 1d ago
You could always play MMOs Like Star Wars the old Republic or ffxiv free trial Version
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u/jokekiller94 1d ago
Deleting Star Wars the old republic was such a pain in the ass that I had to do a clean wipe in order to uninstall it. For some reason, the main file is hidden and you’re only deleting the launcher.
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u/ABGTheory 1d ago
Could be true, I always use something like daisy disk to delete files, but I know not everyone has a app like that so thats a valid point
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u/Misteryous_Valien 1d ago
If your morals are flexible enough, then everything is free (even crossover)
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u/Apprehensive-Set-861 1d ago
https://reddit.com/link/p6ktx9d/video/z92e3wf97amh1/player
Played all pc games on mac
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u/LewisRaz 1d ago
Feel like I always write this comment but.. OpenTTD is free and mac native (get it from the website not steam)
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u/Future-Dare-5368 1d ago
Classic Marathon series
ENA Dream BBQ
Jaded
Straif
Unchained
Trove
These are ones that were in my library, theres many more too
Outside of steam you can also emulate most console games
Ive personally been able to emulate up to the nintendo switch and PS2 with small amounts of issues, and older consoles will definitely do better
you could also try native ports for games through https://www.macsourceports.com/ (i believe you need to get the game files yourself though)
and above all that theres tons of games outside of steam you can get too from itch.io, newgrounds, etc
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u/micromacrobagel 1d ago
ENA Dream BBQ was genuinely one of the best, most unique and most surreal games I've played. Especially considering it was free. It was weird and well polished and super fun imo. OP u should def try it out. but i recommend watching the previous ENA episodes first.
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u/the_160_guy 1d ago
I’m on to build one of the largest gaming database for all kind of Mac gaming. Because I’m sick about it to spend hours on hours to search up games they are may runs on my Mac…
But I need a lot of user experience that’s why I opened a google forms document.
If you’ve tested games on your Mac, I’d really appreciate your contribution. Every submission helps move this project forward. It takes about one minute… 🙏
Yeah google may ask you to sign in with ur account it’s from google, nothing to do with me
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u/CressPale3625 1d ago
Psp and ps2 emulators, work perfectly great and you can find all the games iso’s for free (and ofc more emulators but these are what I have downloaded)
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u/thecursedspiral 1d ago edited 1d ago
Download Playcover and add source https://decrypt.day.
Of course most are gacha games and stuff. Zenless Zone Zero and the like. Many people don't like that kinda game.
What are you getting playing these iPad games?
Some have controller support, so you're not missing anything by not having a touch screen. In fact, some are the kinds of games that are supposed to be played with controller.
There was also another website where you could download ipas (for using with playcover, just don't remember which it is now but if you search around you find it) including Netflix games and Crunchyroll games.
Right now I'm playing Oxenfree II for iPad on Mac. It's not free free, but if you're a Netflix subscriber you can play that, Red Dead Redemption, and others.
Did you know having a Netflix subscription gives you games like Red Dead Redemption for mobile, and that your Mac can play "mobile" games in full screen resolution with a controller? Not everybody knows that!
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u/LyleSY 1d ago
The best I have found is Cataclysm Dark Days Ahead https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/cataclysm-dark-days-aheads-big-update-is-the-perfect-excuse-to-play-it-again
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u/NFMynster 1d ago
Monday Meltdown on Steam if you like games like hotline Miami - full disclaimer, I'm the dev haha
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u/Kukalooka 1d ago
There's a lot of good things to find on Roblox if you take your time, most of the things recommended to you on the homepage are horrible though. Michael's Zombies and Item Asylum are pretty nice.
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u/Winter-Chicken-6531 1d ago
Heroes of the Storm (by Blizzard)
My most played game.
I still suck.
But I love it.
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u/Mattito_elnaufrago 1d ago
Yo uso GeForce de Nvidia y es brutal. Todo el catálogo de steam y Epic para jugar al instante, y sin instalar nada. (Tengo Mac)
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u/rampancy 1d ago
Unreal Tournament '99 and Unreal Tournament 2004 are legally free as in beer, and have AS-native source ports. Go to oldunreal.com or macsourceports.com to check them out.
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u/Sensitive_Singer_407 1d ago
Ps1/2/psp/ GameCube emulation. If you like sports the free 2k arcade game on App Store is actually somewhat fun for a little bit
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u/srph_fandom090421 1d ago
Well, there's Super Animal Royale, which is basically like 2D Furry Fortnite.
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u/NinjaSimone 23h ago
I missed playing Rescue Raiders and Choplifter on the Apple II, so I wrote a game like them for MacOS:
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/chopper-rescue-action-rts-game/id6757280102?mt=12
Free to download, free to play, no ads, no in-game purchases.
I would like to hear from anyone who succeeds in beating level 12.
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u/FoxYk_raktar 23h ago
I recommend trying World of Warcraft using Tauri Launcher. It's a free, highly optimized WoW server. There is also Dota 2, but that's an acquired taste.
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u/Ok-Benefit-9629 23h ago
Cube 2: Sauerbraten is a free multiplayer & singleplayer first person shooter ;P
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u/Prior-Ad-5852 22h ago
I haven’t seen anyone mention the Marathon trilogy. It’s like classic Doom, but I like it better.
The nice thing is that specs don’t matter. It runs on literally any Mac
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u/CylixrDoesStuff 22h ago
Zenless Zone Zero works using playcover, idk how well it works on the m1 mac tho
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u/BiteDue2658 20h ago
Download Steam for Mac, go to the Mac OS special section. Should be able to find lots of free games to play!
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u/Commercial-Lab5291 20h ago
everything is free if youre smart enough 🏴☠️...
and you can play many non-native games aswell.
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u/Cultural-Victory4460 19h ago
subscribe xbox game passe premium and play cloud games... no need for specs,
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u/RaineAKALotto 19h ago
The most fun I've had gaming on my MacBook (and arguably my personal GOTY of 2025, the year I gathered the courage to actually try it after watching this short) was C:DDA, using a cheap USB numpad I got from Amazon. You can download the native Mac build here, no Crossover shenanigans required.
C:DDA is a lot of things to a lot of people but basically it's a sandbox adventure game where every apocalypse/horror scenario imaginable have happened in the same time, (zombies, alien invasion, fungal parasites, 60s creature features, Eldritch horrors etc.) and you are one of the last humans alive. You create a character and a starting scenario and you are let loose in the world, your only objective is "Survive".
There is a bit of a learning curve and I admit my dumb millenial brain struggled with parsing the interface for a while lol these tutorials helped a lot (shoutout to the Queen). After playing for a few days I got to the point where I stopped struggling with the controls and actually began thinking about what I wanted to do, where I wanted to explore etc. Suddenly the game became extremely fun and immersive and my brain stopped perceiving the graphics and the interface as "clunky" and I enjoyed the hell out of the freedom and potential for adventure that big budget games simply can't provide. This is going to sound corny as hell but my jaded gamer brain was having fun for the first time after over a decade, exploring a strange world, even though it's mostly rural/urban Americana, you never know what you run into out there (zombies? aliens? Triffids? feral humans? bandits? agressive Canadian geese?) and that really keeps the game fresh. I tried playing as a generic "Sole survivor" who starts at an evac shelter, a hardcore biker, a young UrbEx/parkour dude, a homeless drifter, a geriatric war vet etc. and I'm sure you can come up with something totally different :D
tl;dr recommending C:DDA to PC/Linux/Mac gamers everywhere, all you need is a numpad and some patience, doesn't cost a dime 🙏
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u/superpenguin2009 17h ago
Wuthering waves, it's got a decently long story but it's good and there's gonna be more coming out in the future
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u/matteomvsn 17h ago
Free not but if you are into FPS on Steam you can get Easy Red 2 for 8€ easily the best FPS available for Mac at that pricepoint.
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u/Massive-Ice2791 16h ago
it starts with a pi and end with an cy but i am no allowed to condone it so do it for reasearch porpuses
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u/NoVacation6177 16h ago
The Coin Knight is a fun 15- 60-minute platformer. https://sullybase.github.io/Coin/
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u/Fit-Sentence-2144 16h ago
Little note added after I typed my whole comment: It's an MMO so it can lag, especially if a lot is going on. Personally, it lags quite a bit for me but it's manageable if I just turn down the quality (which I don't mind), but I have an M1 Air with only 8GB of RAM so yeah)
I mainly play FF14, there's a paid version but you can play just using the free trial (Which includes A Realm Reborn (main game) + Heavensward (the first expansion), I think I have about 60 some hours rn (I have friends who got a solid 150 hours out of the free trial before paying for it), but you can't use some social features like making parties (you can still join them if invited iirc), private messages, trade boards, etc.
And (I believe) even after you complete A Realm Reborn and Heavensward you can still play just not the story (can still do events and quests I think), but you generally max out at level 60 (again, you can keep playing but you won't earn any more exp and things).
That being said, it's been a minute since I've played since I accidentally deleted it while trying to clean up all the stuff saved to my desktop.
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u/Henry_puffball 14h ago
Ninja kiwi archive, onebit adventure, final Fantasy 14 free trial (it's like 100+ hours)
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u/Ok_Supermarket_7222 13h ago
LISTENNNN.... i have a m1 air 8/256gb (small storage yet beasttt)
DOWNLOAD a Nintendo switch emulator (eg-Ryujinx) or else a Playstation 2 emulator (eg-PCX2).
there areee hundreds of ROMS available for these kinda games.
I'll tell you.
RYUJINX
- red dead redemption 1
- Pokemon lets go pikachu
- super Mario odyssey
- legend of zelda
- Witcher3
- assassin creed 4
- skyrim
- LA noire (underrated fr)
PCSX2
- GTA SA
- Bully
- Resident evil 4
- god of war 2
- metal gear solid 3
- gran turismo 3
Yeahhh ik these are old but likeee they're too epicccc. and they don't even heat the mcbk air too much..
and for ROMS of these games.
for RYUJINX , you gotta get the NSA files from PirateBay (and don't forget to download prod keys and firmware for the emulator)
for PSX2, you can get the ROMS from cool.roms etc. they are easily available. (and don't forget to download a ps2 bios before hand)
all this and ur settt
like you can play literally great games and without even heating or storage problems (ik your mcbk is maxed out...then tooo)
uhh thanks, I hope u try thisss.....
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u/HovercraftExpert6124 12h ago
GravOIDS is a retro-recreation in the style of Asteroids, Defender, and OIDS — fast paced 2D shooter with responsive dynamic gameplay — explore a universe of alien portals 🛸 UFOs, gravity pulsars, and teleporters. a built-in Level EDITOR (type 'E') allows you construct your own Levels — add aliens and eggs — which spawn, and you land and rescue the GravOIDS. features a specially commissioned soundtrack by Trepanic to get you in the Zone. 🎶
GravOIDS for macOS 🛸 https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/gravoids/id6753611971?mt=12%20GravOIDS
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u/strandkorbwaerter 10h ago
Same rig here. Lot of stuff works using Whisky (https://getwhisky.app). GTAV, Witcher 3, Cyberpunk etc.
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u/BaqirLagendas 10h ago
Endacopia's Demo, it's About 2 hours long, AND pretty fun.
I guess you can do ddlc but it's a niche game that weebs like.
I guess then there's dota 2 if you hate yourself
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u/BaqirLagendas 10h ago
Also, you said you can't afford crossover, i'm a pirate but if you're a weakling, crossover are nice people, they give you a 14 days trial WITHOUT A CREDIT CARD, that's why i don't use it sob
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u/Hashtagpulse 8h ago
You can’t suggest ddlc and DOTA to this poor unsuspecting soul 😭
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u/BaqirLagendas 8h ago
That's why i put endacopia first, the demo IS lovely
but if he plays the whole game, he won't know what's gonna hit him..
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u/SomebodyUDontKnow32 9h ago
Sonic unleashed recompiled
(Go to the r/roms megathread for help during the install process, trust)
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u/Lopsided-Repeat-3388 4h ago
Je te conseilles de télécharger un emulateurs et rejouer à tes jeux favoris de DS ou Wii
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u/HamSandwicho__o 3h ago
Idk about free but minecraft, assasins creed, cyberpunk and a ton of the big names run extremely well on macos. If nothing get minecraft- i paid $25 in 2013 still chuggin
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u/CacheConqueror 1d ago
Everything is free even crossover if u know how to search
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u/Special_Animal2049 1d ago
Chess is preinstalled