If you have a Mac with Apple Silicon, meaning one of the powerful M1, M1 Pro, M1 Max, or M2 chips, you’ll want to get the most out of its performance and efficiency. And although gaming is not a sufficiently exploited territory -although the future M3 aims to change this perspective-, one of the best ways to achieve this is to take advantage of video games optimized to work natively with this architecture. What better way to squeeze that Mac Mini M1 or Macbook M1 solvent, without needing emulation or external tools.
For this reason, we have selected The 15 best native macOS video games with Apple Silicon that you can currently find on the market, and which offer you a smooth, fast and visually spectacular gaming experience. From graphic adventures to shootersFrom strategy to role-playing to simulation, there are options for all tastes and genres. So prepare your Mac, your mouse and your keyboard, or the touchpad your Macbook Pro M2 because it’s time to get the most out of your computer’s GPU.
Resident Evil Village
While waiting for the Resident Evil 4 remake to land on our Macs as it deserves, a good way to make your bed is to enjoy the eighth installment of the most popular survival horror saga. The drama of Ethan Winters surviving Lady Dimitrescu is much more than a meme, it’s a colossal work that takes full advantage of the graphic potential of the RE Engine and new technologies such as ray tracing or FidelityFX. And it works great on any Mac with Apple Silicon. As a gift, it includes an online multiplayer mode called RE: Verse, where you can compete against other players with the most iconic characters of the saga. What better option?
Download Resident Evil Village
No Man’s Sky
Announced at WWDC22, here we have another native Apple Silicon compatible with Nvidia’s DLSS that has been conquering the galaxies for the past few years. “No Man’s Sky” is an addictive space exploration game that lets you travel through an almost infinite procedurally generated universe where every planet, star, animal and plant is unique. You never know what you’ll find on the next planet or in the next solar system, which makes each game unique. Hello Games has been updating it relentlessly since day one
Download No Man’s Sky
The long darkness
And from a survival game to a survival game, less demanding in the graphic section but crueler in the playability. Being castaway in the frigid lands of northern Canada is not easy. And here you need to pay attention not only to the weather, but to hunger, thirst, fatigue and wild animals. Without managing your inventory, your equipment, your health and your morale you will not survive for long. Every element counts.
The Long Dark is a crushing survival game, one of the few examples where you can feel the loneliness and isolation of being lost in a hostile world. But it also emanates something unique, a fortress of the best sandbox where you know that if you put in the effort, you will survive and recover from any injury.
Download The Long Dark
fire watch
What to say about this big job in Campo Santo: Firewatch puts us in the shoes of Henry, a fire warden who must face his memories and can only communicate by walkie-talkie with his supervisor, Delilah. Recreating the wooded landscape of Wyoming – and you can even play it in 4K – there’s no combat or puzzles here, just a gripping narrative and a soul-grinding soundtrack. A story that also a fantastic Spanish dub that explores maturity, guilt and responsibility like few games have tried.
Download Firewatch
Alien: Isolation – The Collection
It won’t be the first time he’s appeared here in a big team at Feral, one of the studios responsible for developing 1:1 ports of award-winning games. Until now, you could play this game using Rosetta, although it uses OpenGL libraries instead of Metal and is generally high resolution demanding.
But the key, as it should be in these cases, is in a frame. Never before has a video game transferred the thrills of the original film like this Isolation. An unpredictable and deadly alien that pursues you throughout Sevastopol Station and 18 missions that will make this hide-and-seek game and deadliest treasure hunt forever. With an old-school manual save system and outrageous graphics – thanks to the Cathode Engine – surviving here is more complicated than depending on a cat.
Download Alien: Isolation
Baldur’s Gate 3
Dungeons & Dragons and the Forgotten Realms return like never before. The new epic from Larian Studios, the Belgian studio that has taken on the great responsibility of translating one of the most popular RPG sagas in history. A saga that once again highlights the rules, classes, races, monsters and magic of the fifth edition through a plot that tells the invasion of the illithids. As long as it is still in “early access” mode, it will be one of the few simultaneous versions 100% compatible with Apple Silicon. Available for single player or multiplayer, this is another immersive option to test your Mac and see how Metal 3 Performance HUD performs in terms of frame rate and resolution.
Download Baldur’s Gate 3
Disco Elysee
And from roll to roll. Because Disco Elysium is a timeless gem that has marked a before and after in the industry, winner of the BAFTA for best narrative game, the Game Awards for best role-playing game and the DICE for best achievement in history. Being an amnesiac detective who must solve a murder case in a decadent and corrupt city is only the first layer of the puzzle. You have 24 abilities to make every game unique and equally deep, original and consistent with your decisions. Disco Elysium was one of the first native Mac ports with Apple Silicon, so you can play without emulating anything.
Download Disco Elysee
GREY+
We traveled to Barcelona to now offer a very special Spanish game, designed by Conrad Roset and developed by Nomada Studios. Roset is popular for his work with brands such as Zara, Adidas or Coca-Cola and the game was recognized at the Apple Design Award 2019, nominated for three BAFTAs or winner at The Game Awards 2019 for impact. Additionally, the Gray+ edition adds more content, more customization options, and significant technical improvements. Happiness in 4K.
Download GRAY+
Tunic
Imagine going back to the days of the original Zelda. That’s what Tunic offers, a treasured RPG in a land of legend and a great treasure hidden somewhere, perhaps beyond the Golden Gate or in a palace above the clouds. always cool to be a fox that parades with its shield, but more if it is Apple Silicon compatible —requires an M1 or higher processor. Of course, it doesn’t support ultrawide screens: its complex dioramas work best in a more traditional format.
Download Tunic
Lightning 3
And we put aside the leisurely adventures to embark on the frenzy of lightning-fast races, loops and sharp, tight turns. If you have macOS 10.14 or more, you can play from September 22, 2022 — and natively on Apple Silicon — this great racing game published by the Polish company Jujubee SA Bombs in the purest Mario Kary style and the traditional split screen to feel like in the first days of your gaming childhood.
Download Flashout 3
NBA 2K23 Arcade Edition
And since speed is always linked to sport, it’s now the turn of this review of the great Visual Concepts franchise published by 2K Sport. The big news is called “The Greatest”, a mod where you can face 20 of the best NBA players of all time, like Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Shaquille O’Neal. Extremely fluid on any Mac with Apple Silicon, the game again benefits from the comments of great NBA analysts, Brian Anderson or Greg Anthony and retains the most mythical modalities, such as MyCAREER, Quick Match or online competition . Available through Apple Arcade for Mac and iPad, it’s one of those must-haves you can’t ignore.
Download NBA 2K23 Arcade Edition
Registration
For many it was last year’s game. This madness by Daniel Mullins published by Devolver Digital, a guarantee of quality, offers a different card game, mixing roguelike deck-building, escape room-style puzzles and psychological horror. You don’t need to know anything else, maybe the forest creatures are treacherous. A disturbing story that will leave you glued to the screen and the latest and most acclaimed project from the studio responsible for Pony Island.
Download Registration
XCOM 2
The translation of XCOM 2 has come to Mac from the hand of Feral – based on the development of Firaxis Games – and the result could not be more perfect. A game that is still seen and enjoyed like few others today, a guerrilla war against the fucking aliens who have won and ruled the planet. It’s not for nothing that it’s considered one of the best aerial isometric view strategy games ever made. Adaptive difficulty, five soldier classes, and a varied combat style for many types of players. But, above all, a performance under macOS with Apple Silicon chips that makes sense, being able to reach 100 fps without scratching anything.
Download XCOM 2
The way
Hold on to something because you’re going to have a bad time. The Medium is one of those crazy things you can’t imagine until you play it. With patented dual reality mechanics and a soundtrack co-composed by Arkadiusz Reikowski and Akira Yamaoka —the composer of Silent Hill himself—, here you will have to explore with your gift between two realities that mix and surround you in a story full of pain and guilt. Developed by Bloober Team, it is another of the heavyweights recently supported by Apple Silicon, no need to resort to Boot Camp or Parallels Desktop.
Download The Medium
LUNA Shadow Dust
And we say goodbye with a little adventure of those who warm the heart, drawn entirely by hand —more than 250 drawn animations bear witness to this— and based on a wordless narrative like those of yesteryear. Lantern Studio puts us in the shoes of a boy who must explore an ancient tower full of secrets. You don’t need to know more to spend the next two hours untangling them.
Download LUNA The Shadow Dust
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