The 16 best Mac games: top macOS titles to satisfy your gaming itch

Introduction

Update: At number 16 on our list, we've added Darkest Dungeon, a dungeon-crawler RPG that's ostensibly cutesy on the outside but a tough egg to crack underneath.

The idea that Macs can't do gaming is an outdated one. Sure, you can't crack open one of Apple's computers and slot an Nvidia GTX 1080 inside, but today's iMacs and MacBooks fare much better than they used to thanks to improvements in Intel's integrated graphics solutions and AMD's increasingly powerful mobile GPUs.

Heck, you could even say that casual gaming is more accessible on the Mac thanks to the wide variety of titles available in the App Store, such as Human Resource Machine which we've added to number 14! And, though it's nowhere near as eclectic as its Windows equivalent, Steam's library on macOS Sierra is growing every day.

Click on to discover the best Mac games available on the Mac App store and elsewhere.

• Once you're done, check out the best PC games

This article has been updated for TechRadar's Mac Week. This year marks not only the 10th anniversary of Apple's unibody MacBook, but the triumphant return of macOS. So, TechRadar looks to celebrate with a week's worth of original features delving back into the Mac's past, predicting the Mac's future and exploring the Mac as it is today.

Gabe Carey has also contributed to this article

1. XCOM 2

How to get it: App Store

If turn-based strategy is your thing, XCOM 2 is one of the best in its class. Improving upon its predecessor, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, XCOM 2 bears the same ostensibly hopeless setting and makes things only more oppressive by randomizing systems like weapon mods, soldier stat boosts, special ammo, and more in an attempt to throw you off. By trying anything to keep you from survival, XCOM 2 is among the most domineering games on the App Store, and it's all the better as a result.

2. Undertale

How to get it: Steam

As you can probably tell by the graphics, Undertale is an ode to old-school role-playing games akin the earlier Final Fantasy games on the SNES. Heavy on humor and light on system requirements, it's a perfect fit for macOS whether you're on a MacBook or a Mac Pro. If you like cleverly designed boss battles and despise linearity, Undertale is dressed to impress.

Don't let the pixel art style fool you – Undertale is a modern game in every respect save forits visuals. In fact, its rendition of the classic "New Game Plus" mode, which faces you against the consequences of your actions in the previous go-around.

3. Homeworld Remastered

How to get it: App Store

Originally launched in 1999, the influence of real-time strategy classic Homeworld runs deep in the DNA of today's fantasy RTS games. Homeworld went beyond the genre's traditionally flat battlefields by allowing you to position your fleet of spaceships anywhere in a 3D map of space. The extra freedom requires a whole new level of tactical nous, which you'll need if you want to get through its 30-hour campaign without tearing your hair out. When you're not overseeing ship formations and tactics, you'll be monitoring fuel levels, harvesting resources and fighting against gravitational pull to keep your squad together.

4. Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic

How to get it: App Store

Even a decade later, Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic may be one of the best Star Wars game of all time, thanks to a choose-your-own-path approach that lets you customize a character, make moral choices along the way, and explore the galaxy's ample depth as you desire. It looks and feels a little dated at this point, but it remains the most thorough franchise realization yet.

5. The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition

How to get it: App Store

A truly beloved adventure games classic, The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition brings the 1990 entry to the Mac App Store with a fresh coat of paint, thanks to enhanced visuals and full voiceover work. You can always switch to the old graphics at any point, and however you play, it's really the rich humor and smart puzzles that make this an enduring favorite.

6. Limbo

How to get it: App Store

Set in a mysterious and monochromatic world, Limbo sends you off into the shadowy 2D space without explanation or prompt, tasking you with guiding a young boy through a series of environmental puzzles. Also one of our best indie games, Limbo is a gripping puzzle/platform adventure that mesmerizes plenty within just a few hours' span, and the one-of-a-kind presentation really makes it memorable.

7. Alien: Isolation - The Collection

How to get it: App Store

If you like survival horror games or movies then you're in luck because Alien: Isolation combines the best of both worlds. By taking the beloved setting and characters of the classic Alien movie franchise, we're greeted with a delightfully terrifying experience reliant on stealth and jump scares to tell its story.

In fact, Creative Assembly paid so much respect to the Alien movies that Isolation almost makes up for the disaster that was Aliens: Colonial Marines.

8. Braid

How to get it: App Store

Braid takes many of its cues from classic platform adventures like Super Mario Bros, but Nintendo's portly plumber never mined the kind of emotional territory that reveals itself over the course of this puzzle-tinged affair. Gorgeous hand-painted visuals and contemplative storytelling help frame the action, which uses a time-manipulating effect to shake up the platform approach.

9. Doom 3

How to get it: App Store

Itching for a bit of big-budget ultra-violence? Doom 3 is the culmination of id Software's legendary first-person shooter franchise, sending you running through dark corridors filled with all sorts of horrifying beasts. Several years after its release, it's no longer the flashiest shooter around, but it still delivers an effective burst of horror at a pretty fantastic price.

10. Life Is Strange

How to get it: App Store

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to go back? Suddenly faced with the ability to rewind time and overwrite history, Life Is Strange centers around Max Caulfield, a troubled teenager out to protect her best friend Chloe Price from the dangers of reality using her newfound superpower. The overarching plot in Life Is Strange is as endearing as it is riveting.

Sure, you'll roll your eyes at words like "hella" being repeated like a broken record, but by the end of the second episode, the cringe will be overshadowed by twists, turns and cliffhangers that'll leave you on the edge of your seat in anticipation. And, if you're a fan of morality systems, you'll be pleased to know that Life Is Strange features one of the best, with seemingly minuscule choices resulting in major consequences by the end of the game.

What's more, Apple users will rejoice, as Life Is Strange is well-suited to the macOS platform thanks to its barebones system requirements and pick-up-and-play control scheme.

11. Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery

How to get it: App Store

An off-beat but gripping pixel adventure, Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP finds you exploring a stunningly imagined fantasy world while you solve puzzles, take in the quirky dialogue, and even engage in occasional boss battles. It's difficult to understand in moments, but that actually adds to its odd charm, making for one seriously memorable quest.

12. Cities: Skylines

How to get it: Steam

The best city builder is now available on Mac. Developed by the team behind transport management sim Cities in Motion, Cities: Skylines sees you take care of everything from building infrastructure to macro and micro management, land planning, traffic routes and collecting garbage. A stunning-looking game, Skylines makes creating a bustling metropolis great fun from start to finish.

13. Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition

How to get it: App Store

Though it might be a stretch to expect Grand Theft Auto V on macOS any time soon, the next best thing is available directly through the app store. Originally released back in 2012, Sleeping Dogs launched to critical success because of its Batman Arkham-like combat and innovative leveling system unusually implemented in an open-world game. Unlike similar sandbox games like GTA and Watch Dogs, Sleeping Dogs exhibits a unique settings outside of those inspired by today's United States. As a result, it manages to feel fresh despite the obvious parallels.

14. Human Resource Machine

How to get it: App Store

Like the job itself, coding simulation games are on the rise. And, really, what could be more fun than reproducing one of the most panic-striking career fields as a video game? We kid, we kid. Human Resource Machine was developed by Tomorrow Corporation, comprising the minds behind critically-acclaimed titles World of Goo and Little Inferno, and it shows in its art style and clever puzzle mechanics. Designed as a way to teach newcomers how to code (or refresh the minds of long-time veterans), it's a fun way to learn a new trade, even if it does require a handful of instructional materials found outside the game.

15. Kingdom: New Lands

How to get it: App Store

An overhaul of the IGF-nominated "minimalist strategy" game Kingdom, Kingdom: New Lands adds a plethora of new content to an already solid foundation. The experience itself takes concepts from beloved games like Sid Meier's Civilization series and reduces cumbersome menus down to a single button press.

Being a 2D pixel art game, your honest pursuit of erecting a castle and recruiting peasants to serve as servants is limited by its scale, but on Mac it feels right at home. After all, its streamlining of otherwise convoluted mechanics is reminiscent of Apple's own design vision. Also you can ride a unicorn that poops out gold – incredible.

16. Darkest Dungeon

How to get it: App Store

Like a Lovecraftian XCOM 2, Darkest Dungeon is a randomly-generated dungeon crawler RPG consumed by style and strategy. Though it may not appear as such at first glance, the art style in Darkest Dungeon is as nefarious as the gameplay, a testament to both the game's character and its complex combat system.

You'll have to not only select the perfect team out of fourteen different factions to choose from in Darkest Dungeon, but you'll also need to ensure that they're equipped with the right abilities in relation to their placement on the battlefield. Yup, that's right: certain abilities are only effective in certain positions.

Darkest Dungeon is like an amplified card game, and though it's made especially distinct by its art style and quirky narration, its accommodating system requirements make it the perfect fit for Mac.