The 17 best Mac games to play in 2023

Tabletop roleplaying game Dungeons and Dragons may be the gold standard of its category, but Baldur’s Gate 3 impressed everyone this year by replicating the D&D experience in a triple-A video game. Pick the hero or antihero of your choice and head out for a rich but traditional fantasy epic where the thirst for power is met with difficult decisions. The action isn’t just in the field of combat: there’s plenty of steamy romance to be had. Just make sure to not rush your actions in the game, as there’s plenty of menus for powers and character customization options you don’t want to miss. Oh, and since no problem needs to be solved the same way twice, Baldur’s Gate 3 allows for plenty of creative solutions to the baddies in your way. Just make sure you have an Apple silicon-based Mac with M1 or greater, with at least 8GB of memory.?– Henry T. Casey

A darker take on the classic tale of Pinocchio arrives in Lies of P, a Souls-like (read: difficult) action game that flips the script on the tale of the marionette-turned-real-boy. You play as Geppetto’s puppet, and a rude awakening throws you into a world of monsters and violence. Now, you must follow a disembodied voice through the city of Krat to unpack its dark secrets. On the Mac, Lies of P takes advantage of Apple’s latest hardware-enhanced ray tracing (for ultra-realistic lighting and reflections) in addition to other graphics tricks, and requires at least an Apple silicon processor and 8GB of memory. – Henry T. Casey

One of our favorite games of 2021, The Medium is an innovative psychological horror adventure that tasks you with exploring two realities at the same time. Its unique split-screen gameplay has you solve puzzles and sneak past deadly enemies in both the real world and spirit world simultaneously, with one realm often holding the answer to a challenge in the other. It can be satisfyingly tricky, grippingly tense and has no shortage of good scares. The Medium was one of the first true showcases of the powerful PS5 and Xbox Series X when they first launched, and it'll make for an equally great way to really push that Apple Silicon chip in your Mac. – Mike Andronico

TMNT Splintered Fate is literally Hades with a Ninja Turtles skin, and that's a great thing. Borrowing the unique "roguelike" gameplay of one of our top 2020 titles — in which death is frequent and every run is unique — Splintered Fate has you brawl your way through New York City as any of the four Ninja Turtles, who each have distinct skills you can upgrade over time. Splintered Fate's satisfying combat and session-based gameplay make it perfect for short bursts, and you can even team up with up to three friends to get the whole Turtle gang together. And since it's an Apple Arcade game, you can continue the action on your iPhone or iPad if you're on the go. – Mike Andronico

Unanimously considered to be one of the best Star Wars games of all time, Knights of the Old Republic is a sprawling role-playing game in which your choices truly matter. Set thousands of years before the events of the films, KOTOR (as fans call it) provides an incredible level of customization and player freedom as you partake in dynamic turn-based battles and interactive conversations. Want to be a noble Jedi that helps out around the galaxy, or a ruthless Sith Lord that ravages everyone in your path? Both are possible here — complete with one of the best plot twists in modern gaming no matter which path you choose. Better yet, KOTOR 1 and 2 are available as part of a very inexpensive bundle on the App Store, allowing you to play hundreds of hours of Star Wars role-playing greatness for less than the price of a takeout meal. – Mike Andronico

This one is over a decade old at this point, but it still holds up as one of the best looter shooter games in the business. Gearbox Software’s franchise has been bringing us hilarious, immensely fun gameplay and stories since 2009, and it arguably was at its best in this second installment. You choose between one of four Vault Hunters with different abilities and traverse the "Mad Max" world of Pandora. But you have to contend with the charismatic Handsome Jack and some of the most absurd guns in all of video games to do it. Have you ever used a gun that shouts, “Yeah!” every time you shoot it? If you want something newer, Borderlands 3 is also available for Mac.

If you’re looking for a multiplayer first-person shooter on Mac, the best option is Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (more commonly known as CS:GO). The Valve series has been around since 1999, and Global Offensive was first released in 2012, but it’s a classic that is still supported to this day and has an active community, including in esports. Play on one of two teams in a variety of modes. You can even join a private server and make use of a number of mods.

Cuphead quickly captured the eyes of many, thanks to its striking, throwback art style inspired by 1930s cartoons. But beyond the nostalgic aesthetics is a super-challenging, shooting platformer that pits you against a number of bosses as you seek to fight the devil. You’ll struggle, you’ll die a lot, but with any game that’s known for its difficulty, you’ll feel that sense of accomplishment once you come out the other side. Once you’re done, pick up The Delicious Last Course for even more animation goodness.

How to describe Disco Elysium … This role-playing game follows an amnesiac police detective and his stoic partner as they investigate the murder of a mercenary in a city struggling with union battles, class conflict and a violent history. You must use your skills (of which you have very few) to navigate complex politics and discover if cryptids are real (spoiler: the answer might be yes). This choice-making game is both thought-provoking and darkly humorous, and maybe you’ll figure your own baggage out along the way.

This game from Larian Studios is one of the most beloved RPGs available, and maybe one of the best of all time. In Divinity: Original Sin 2, you engage in great turn-based combat while also making tons of choices that affect the rest of your 100-plus hours of playtime and how all the characters react to you. Whether you want to steal, solve murders or succeed in combat, you can do it in Original Sin 2. If you’d rather not play on macOS, it’s also available on iPad.

If you’re looking for an MMORPG to play on your Mac, The Elder Scrolls Online is a great place to start. Fans of Bethesda’s other Elder Scrolls games (like the ever-present Skyrim) will recognize many of the locations, enemies and magic, but even newcomers to the series will enjoy the vast number of places to explore and monsters to slay. Since the game has been around since 2014, there are also six full expansion packs with new stories to complete and areas to traverse, along with dozens of other updates.

Supergiant Games has been making beloved games since 2009, but it hit it out of the park with Hades, a roguelike drenched in Greek mythology. Zagreus is the son of Hades and must escape the Underworld. He has to battle his way through different realms but gets help from the Greek gods, who can imbue him with powers and abilities. You will die — a lot — but you’ll learn from your mistakes, build relationships with the Greek pantheon and discover the real story behind your birth. Fans of fast-paced combat and Greek mythology will have a great time with this one.

The first Portal game was a short, sweet puzzle experience about a rogue AI and had some of the coolest physics in games, and the second one takes that to another level. Use your portal gun to escape the Aperture Science laboratories while interacting with some of the other lethal and wild experiments scattered throughout the facility. Portal 2 is challenging, surprising and one of the funniest and most quotable games of the 21st century.

The long-running Resident Evil franchise got a soft reboot with the terrifying Resident Evil 7 in 2017, and the follow-up, Resident Evil Village, is the most fun the series has been in a long time. You once again take on the role of Ethan Winters, traveling to a remote European village to find your kidnapped baby daughter. However, she’s being protected by the four powerful lords of the village, which include a ridiculously tall vampire, a fish man and a secretive woman with a strange connection to her creepy puppet. You’ll have to fight your way through monsters and gothic landscapes to rescue her.

If The Sims 4 is the ultimate social simulation, then Civilization is the ultimate empire sim. In this 4X turn-based strategy game, you choose from a number of world leaders — Cleopatra, Queen Victoria and more — and seek to take over the world. But it’s not so easy. You have to build up your kingdom first, making your subjects happy, mining resources, building up technology and exploring more areas you constantly have to monitor and adjust. Then, go out and explore, conquering neighboring kingdoms and spreading your power.

The Sims 4 is the ultimate life and social simulation game, and has been since 2015. You create a sim, build them a home and give them a job to do and a family. But you can also do none of those things and watch what happens. Last October, EA made the base game free for everyone, so there’s no risk to hopping in and giving it a shot. You can supplement that with around a dozen expansion packs that add everything from cats and dogs to aliens, or the resources needed to be a high school student or a celebrity.

Stardew Valley took the gaming world by storm when it released in 2016, and it’s still one of the most popular farming and life-sim games out there because you’ll never run out of things to do. You move into the small community of Pelican Town after you inherit a farm from your grandfather. As you redo the farm?— planting crops, setting up buildings, taking care of livestock — you make your own way in the community. You can romance people, go into the depths of the mines, explore the area around the town and partake in festivals. You might even discover some monsters and other secrets along the way.

Undertale is the small indie that could. Developed by Toby Fox, this retro-inspired RPG took the internet by storm with its unique approach to gameplay. You play a child that falls into an underworld filled with monsters. You could fight them and kill them, but you can also engage with them, have conversations, calm them down and bring them over to your side in what is one of the most memorable “pacifist” runs in games. Download on Mac and see what all the fuss is about.