program games are n’t just for playing on the Switch or Xbox , there are some great platform game you’re able to diddle on the Mac . While you wo n’t find Mario or Sonic , there are still some great options . Here are some of our favourites .
For our top best Mac games recommendations read : Top 20 Mac game of 2022 .
We also have eleven separate articles covering our favorite in each game genre . So if you want more of the same , select your favourite genre from the list below and jump to that article .
Abraca
companionship : Ankama GamesWhere to buy : Steam(£10.99/$14.99),Green Man Gaming(£10.99/$14.99)System requirements : Mac with OS X v10.10 , 2.0GHz dual - core Intel C.P.U. , discrete nontextual matter menu with 512 MB VRAM
Abraca is the form of biz that you might carry to observe on the family - oriented Wii console , rather than on a Mac or PC . It ’s also very much a ‘ marmite ’ game – you ’ll either have sex its daft , multiplayer take on old fairytale fibre , or find the whole affair so horribly twee that you want to throw your gamepad at the screen .
The first thing to mention is that Abraca is a plot for playing at dwelling house with friends – preferably fuelled by considerable quantities of intoxicant . It require two , three or four people to dally it , and each person will need a proper gamepad controller . There are two chief parts to the game , with you and your protagonist taking it in turns to play the office of a handsome prince in a political platform biz where you have to run and jump past a series of obstacles and monsters . But , as each player takes their turn to be the prince , their friends get to recreate as giant and campaign against them to terminate them from reaching their destination . And , along the way of life , other fairy tale characters such as Hansel and Gretel pop up , along with an assortment of dragons , evil witches and other monsters .
The other part of the biz boast princess - on - princess activity in a kind of multiplayer arena brawl , and the whole matter dally out with the sort of annoying synthesiser soundtrack that accompanied all those old ’ 80s arcade game .
Braid
Company : Hothead GamesWhere to buy : Mac App Store(£10.99/$10.99),Steam(£10.99/$14.99)System requirements : OS X 10.6.6 or later
The first time you toy Braid , you might be forgive for think you ’ve just bought a late 90 puzzle platformer . You alternate and run like Mario , obliterate monsters by jump on their heads and collect puzzler pieces . And then you ’re introduced to Braid ’s killer lineament : you’re able to change state back time .
As you progress , you realize that this is a important part of the game ’s mechanics . There are section you ca n’t complete without wind back the action mechanism . append in some diabolically design levels , a lot of one-time - schoolhouse gaming and a genuinely bully soundtrack , and you realise why Braid won all those awards .
Dinocide
caller : Atomic TorchWhere to purchase : Steam(£7.19/$9.99)System requirements : Mac with OS X v10.9 , 1.6GHz twofold - center Intel processor
The late fad for retro games has leave the onetime - fashioned sideways - scroll chopine game a new lease of life , and one of the most authentically retro title we ’ve see lately is Dinocide from Atomic Torch .
Dinocide is clearly inspired by the NES colonnade games of the 80s , and puts you in control of a cunning little pixellated cave man who fights his way through a variety of landscapes and level in parliamentary law to deliver his cave lady ally . The data formatting is very straightforward , as you run and pass over past various obstacle and eats rocks at the monster and other enemies that get in your way .
The landscape painting varies from stratum to level , array across comeupance , ocean and underground cave , which permit the plot to befuddle a full mix of obstacles and enemies at you . And , instead of committing dinocide , you’re able to really team up up with many of the dinosaurs you find , perhaps riding on their back to lam other freak , or using a fire - breathing T - Rex to blast your way past an obstruction .
Bear in mind that , like those onetime NES games , Dinocide can also be enormously frustrating at times . You postulate to feed your cave dweller on a regular basis by picking up various bits of food that are disperse around each level . If you do n’t rust often enough he will simply keel over , forcing you to start the level again . This feed - me mechanic is intend to sum up a horse sense of urgency to the plot , but it can also be really teasing at times , so Dinocide will chiefly appeal to purists who bask old - schooling gaming , rather than occasional gamers looking to pass some time on a showery good afternoon .
Limbo
Company : PlaydeadWhere to bribe : Steam(£6.99/$9.99),Green Man Gaming(£6.99/$9.99),Mac App Store(£9.99/$9.99)System requirements : Macs produced in 2009 or onward ; Mac OS X variant Snow Leopard 10.6.3 or later ; Intel Mac processor ; 1 GB RAM ; 150 MB of hard magnetic disk space ; OpenGL 2.0 compatible video card with 256 Mbit shared or consecrate RAM ( ATI or nVidia )
Few games are quite as creepy to play as Limbo , a 2D puzzler platformer in which you play as a young boy lost in the forest . Its exquisitely drawn levels , ambient soundtrack and visceral surprises ensure of that .
Dying becomes a fact of life – dying in ever more gruesome way . Sometimes it will be the result of terrible accidents , other time you ’ll strike into the clasp of jumbo colossus . ( you’re able to turn the gore off if you ’re of a sensitive disposition . )
Beautiful and mournfully cruel , Limbo is a plot that will ghost you long after you ’ve switched off your Mac .
Read our fullLimbo for Mac reviewfor more selective information .
One Dog Story
Company : liberal Way GamesWhere to buy : Steam(£6.99/$4.99)System demand : macOS 10.8 , Intel Core Duo processor , nVidia GeForce 320 M
The retro games resurgence continue with One Dog Story , an one-time - fashioned 2D platform game that supervise to total a footling minute of motley to the received running - and - jumping formula .
As the game set out you find yourself waking up in an clandestine science lab with no memory of who you are or how you got there . That ’s a chip of an old gaming cliché , but One Dog Story throws in a twist of its own as it turns out that you ’re a dog – and somehow have the intelligence to talk and use tools and arm . Clues that you incur lying around the lab tinge at some sort of genetic experimentation , and as you start to research you ’ll meet other characters , as well as the casual electronic computer depot , that can provide more selective information about the occult departure - on in the lab .
One Dog Story works well as a aboveboard platform game , with plenty of obstruction and foe ogre that you have to get past . There are submerged zones where you may only hold your breath for a forgetful time , so you have to escape before you drown . Sometimes your escape route may also branch off in unlike directions – one level may hold room access that conduct to two freestanding levels that you have to explore for retrieve a weapon system or tool that will allow you to go back and figure out a puzzle in an early level . A key feature article of the game is the ability to accumulate ‘ mutagens ’ – items dropped by the monsters that you shoot down , which allow you to heal yourself , save the biz at sealed point , and also advance the weapons that you practice .
All those features mean that you ’ll have to use your brain , as well as your trigger finger , to succeed , help to bring the honest-to-god - school platform formatting a bit more up to date . It ’s good value too , at just £ 6.99/$4.99 , and the 2D art do n’t need a first-rate - fast Mac to ladder swimmingly .
Poncho
Company : Rising Star GamesWhere to buy : Steam(£6.99/$9.99)System requirements : Mac with OS disco biscuit v10.7 or later , 2GHz dual - core central processor , graphic poster with 512 MB VRAM
Two - dimensional program games have been around for donkey ’s years – even longer than the Mac itself , in fact – but Poncho manage to put a Modern wind on the traditional platform - jumping action .
Poncho is described as a ‘ parallax platformer ’ , which means that as well as running and jumping in two dimensions – left and right-hand , or up and down – it uses parallax perspective effect to produce extra ‘ foreground ’ and ‘ scope ’ zones on the CRT screen . This creates a kind of pseudo-3D effect that allows you to jump into the foreground or background for dodge obstacles and solve puzzle that would n’t be potential in a ceremonious 2D platform game .
In other deference , Poncho is a fairly conventional weapons platform game , putting you in control of a small robot who is name after the red poncho that is his only self-command . Poncho Wake Island up in a desolate post - apocalypse world with no sign of human life , so he set up off in search of his manufacturer in an effort to find out what has befall to the world . The traditional left / right move of the platform secret plan are so deep-rooted that it can take a little while to get used to the thought of jumping ‘ in ’ and ‘ out ’ of the screen , but the effect is well used and allows the game ’s designers to produce some dodgy puzzles as you progress through the plot .
Putty Squad
Company : Virtual ProgrammingWhere to buy : Mac App Store(£4.99/$4.99),Deliver2.com(£4.99/$5.99)System requirements : Mac with OS X v10.11 , Intel dual - core CPU
The revitalization of retro platform games continues with the expiration of Putty Squad , although this particular game has a bizarre story . Originally develop in the former ninety , the game really tarry unpublished until just a few years ago , when an update version with enhanced computer graphic was finally released for the PC and various games consoles . Now it ’s been bring to the Mac and Linux by Virtual Programming .
The platform game format is fairly familiar , of course , but Putty Squad cope to come up with a fun twist . As well as the usual running and jump that you ’d require from a political program game , you see a lineament simply called Putty who , as the name suggest , can stretch and shift physique just like putty .
Putty can splash down flat to squeeze through tight blank space , or balloon so as to float above them . you could stretch out Putty up and down so as to wax past obstacle , or stretch out a putty arm to punch enemies . Putty can also wrap around weapons , such as a nitro bomb or Eruca sativa - catapult , and carry them around until you need to expend them .
Some of the puzzles are actually quite tricky , as you take to figure out which maneuver – jump , floating , punch or stretching – will mould best , and we sometimes found it hard to remember all the different control button . However , there ’s a handy tutorial that usher in the game ’s main feature , and we like the power to contract ‘ metre ’ to zoom out and see the integral tier in Map Mode , which helps you to estimate out the best path through each level .
It ’s a shame that theiOS versionhas also struggled to find a publishing house , as Putty Squad seems ideal for the iPhone or iPad , but if you ’re a fan of old - school platform game then Putty Squad is a real delicacy . Cliff Joseph
Rive
Company : Two TribesWhere to buy : Steam(£10.99/$14.99)System necessity : Mac with OS X v10.7 , 2.0GHz dual - core Intel central processor , discrete graphics bill with 256 MB VRAM
Old - schooltime chopine games and arcade shooter have been making a counter of later – often good manners of nostalgic gamers funding them on Kickstarter – and Rive is perhaps the purest model of that onetime - school day glide path that we ’ve seen so far .
The format of the plot is passably aboveboard . You play a problematical old space jockey called Roughshot who get himself adrift in outer space and but has to nail his room past all the obstacle and enemies that stand in his way . In that respect Rive is no different from a gazillion other arcade games . However , the plot ’s relentless , non - stop activeness has been hone to perfection – it ’s agonisingly heavily , and sometimes leave alone you wondering how on land you ’re going to finish a individual level , let alone complete the full biz .
You ’ll die over and over , yet the presentation of the game is so cunning and attractive that it draw you back in time and time again . Sometimes you ’re float around in outer space , dodging asteroids and enemy weapons , while other level are more like a like a platform plot where you have to find your way past a series of obstacles . The controller sense smooth and responsive , and the neon - hued graphics and synth soundtrack are like an arcade sugar - rush that just keeps drawing you back in , no matter how many clock time you pass . Rive is most decidedly not a biz for casual players , but if you ’re a lover of retro game and like a real challenge then Rive is pure , intravenous colonnade legal action from starting time to cultivation .
Spiritfarer: Farewell Edition
Company : Thunder LotusWhere to buy : Steam(£23.79/$29.99)Requirements : Mac with OS X v10.10 , 7 GB magnetic disc space
In Greek mythology , it ’s Charon the ferryman who steer the individual of the dead into the underworld . In Spiritfarer , it ’s Stella and her hombre Daffodil who seek out lose spirits , initially befriend them , but then helping them to move on when they finally adjudicate that they ’re quick to enter the afterlife .
You start the game playing as Stella , as she guides her barge across a mystical sea , research a serial of deep islands , meeting a number of spirits and learning about their individual stories . The colourful 2D nontextual matter have a very Walt Disney - esque flavor to them , and the biz ’s gentle pace and friendly characters will certainly appeal to younger player .
There ’s quite a lot conk out on in the game , though , as you’re able to pass time gather wood , herbs and other materials in edict to upgrade your barge . you’re able to also do a spot of farming , fix or crafting to facilitate your purport ally , and some levels include puzzles and elements of platform - jump action to tally variety . The spirits that you encounter will also give you quests , perhaps asking you to make them a house where they can rest , or to locate fall behind items so that they can develop for the hereafter before lastly saying goodbye . There ’s also a two - thespian mode that allows you to invite a Quaker to trifle alongside you as Daffodil – which would be a great option for parents who require to roleplay with their children . The biz is a little expensive , at £ 23.79 , but it should last for 30 – 50 hour if you want to complete all the seeking in the plot . There ’s also a demonstration version that you’re able to try out before pay for the full game .
Unbound: Worlds Apart
society : Alien Pixel StudiosWhere to buy : Steam(£16.99/$19.99),GOG(£16.99/$23.62)System requirements : Mac with Catalina ( 10.15 ) , Intel Core i5 processor , AMD Radeon Pro 450 or higher
This 2D sideways - scrolling political program game is surprisingly slick and dressed for a Kickstarter project , and introduces a clever new kink that will invoke to fans of platform games . The commencement of the game is a little disorienting , though , as it allow for only the brief origination to your character , a young mage call Soli , as you fly a rather vague cataclysm that has befallen your home world .
ab initio , Unbound follow the standard data formatting for weapons platform game , allowing you to feed and jump past a serial of obstacles and foe for make out each stratum . But after a couple of unsubdivided level that allow you to dominate the introductory restraint , you ’ll add up up against an obstruction that has no obvious root . That ’s when you may expend Soli ’s charming powers to open up up a hepatic portal vein that rent you quickly hop across into a different dimension . This earmark you to side - step that obstacle in the unexampled dimension , before end the portal and return to the late proportion once more .
It ’s not always that soft , though , as you ’ll often open up a vena portae only to find that there ’s another trap or creepy-crawly fiend waiting on the other side . And , just to challenge you even further , the jurisprudence of physics in each dimension can depart – so gravity in one property might allow you to ‘ fall ’ upwards for escape a mysterious nether region in another dimension . So , as well as needing agile finger and quick reflexes , you ’ll call for to plan ahead – and maybe die a few times – in lodge to count on out the best dimension - skip , physics - defying route through each level .
The rather brusque introduction at the start of the biz may put off casual players who are n’t sure what ’s going on , but the atmospheric bridge player - drawn graphics and slick brio make Unbound one of the most stylish and challenging weapons platform games we ’ve seen in eld .
Yooka-Laylee
Company : PlaytonicWhere to buy : Steam(£34.99/$39.99),Green Man Gaming(£34.99/$39.99)System requirements : Mac with OS X v10.9.5 , 2.5GHz Intel Core i5 C.P.U. , GeForce 640 M or later , game controller ( recommended )
game like Yooka - Laylee do n’t appear on the Mac very often , as it very much harks back to the variety of confect - coloured sugar - rush platform secret plan that thrived on Nintendo soothe back in the XC . The circle up is relatively uncomplicated , although it plays out against the variety of brightly coloured atomic number 10 animated cartoon world that make the Super Mario plot look gloomy and dull .
The game embark on when evil businessman Capital B – who looks rather like Gru from theDespicable Mefilms – and his henchman Dr Quack ( who seems to be a duck in a bottleful ) , slip every playscript in the universe so that they can corner the market and make fortune .
To defend the books of the world you step in and take control of two characters – the chameleon Yooka , and his bat sidekick Laylee . This dynamic duad has to research a series of grade called Grand Tomes , which are full of weird and wonderful weapons platform , puzzles and other obstacle , as well as boss monsters , and endless collectable that give you wellness boosts and new powers . As you search each Grand Tome you will also discover magical book page ( call Pagies ) that open up fresh areas to explore .
As well as playing on your own , the game also includes a carbon monoxide gas - op mode that allow a friend take control of a third character alongside Yooka and Laylee , and there ’s a local multiplayer musical mode that lets four people act together at home . The secret plan is a little pricey , at £ 34.99 , but it ’s not bad playfulness , and it ’s inventive and funny enough to keep both adults and untested thespian entertained for hours on closing .
