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a centralized list of every known way to make games run on macOS

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A centralized list of every known way to make games run on macOS

## Table of Contents

1. [Native Mac Games](#native-mac-games)
   - [32-bit Mac Games](#32-bit-mac-games)
2. [iOS Versions](#ios-versions)
3. [Modern Windows Games](#modern-windows-games)
   - [Translation Layers](#translation-layers)
      - [Background](#tl-background)
      - [Tools](#tl-tools)
      - [Launchers](#launchers)
      - [Handling AVX and F16C](#avx-f16c)
   - [Virtualization](#virtualization)
   - [Cloud Gaming](#cloud-gaming)
      - [Local Area Streaming](#local-area-streaming)
   - [Dual Booting](#dual-booting)
4. [Games Available on Other Platforms](#games-available-on-other-platforms)
   - [Multiple Platform Emulators](#multiple-platform-emulators)
   - [Sony PlayStation Series](#sony-playstation-series)
   - [Xbox Series](#xbox-series)
   - [Nintendo Consoles](#nintendo-consoles)
   - [Android](#android)
   - [MS-DOS Games](#ms-dos-games)
   - [Windows 95-98](#windows-9598)
   - [MacOS 9](#MacOS-9)
5. [Game Engine Ports, Hacks, and Patches](#game-engine-ports-hacks-and-patches)
    - [Unity and Adobe Air Games](#unity-and-adobe-air-games)
    - [RPG Maker games](#RPG-maker-games)
    - [Mac Source Ports](#mac-source-ports)
    - [ScummVM](#scummvm)
    - [Recompilations](#recompilations)
    - [Sonic ports](#sonic-ports)
    - [Individual Mac Ports](#individual-mac-ports)
6. [Mod Managers](#mod-managers)
7. [Making VR work](#making-vr-work)

## <a id="native-mac-games"></a>Native Mac Games

Native Mac games and ports are, most of the time, the best way to enjoy a game on your Mac. They are compiled for macOS, and the developer presumably offers support for running them on macOS. There are a few different places to find these games:
- [Mac App Store](https://apps.apple.com/us/mac/play): Apple's main app store which has some exclusive Mac games. Some are only available with an Apple Arcade subscription. The Mac App Store sometimes offers Universal Purchase, which means you can play the game on every supported Apple platform for a single fee
- [GOG](https://www.gog.com/): Unlike the other stores, GOG provides games without DRM
- [Epic Games Store](https://store.epicgames.com/): Notable for offering free games each Thursday, although Mac games are quite rare (many games that offer a Mac version are only available for Windows on the Epic Games Store)
- [Steam](https://store.steampowered.com/): The store with the largest game selection by far
- [MacGameStore](https://www.macgamestore.com/): More centered around casual games; a staple of Mac gaming for decades

On Steam, GOG and the Epic Games Store, some games are only available for Windows and not for Mac, so you must make sure a game supports macOS before purchasing it. Steam will display an Apple logo atop the "add to cart" button if the game runs on macOS.

GOG will show an Apple logo right under the game's title on the product page

The Epic Games Store will mention "Mac" in the supported platforms at the bottom of the right pane on a product page

> [!TIP]
> When you buy a game on GOG, the Epic Games Store, or Steam, you also get a license for the Windows version, and Linux version when available. If you have any issue with your purchase, for Steam and the Epic Games Store, you can get refunded automatically if your purchase was less tha 14 days before asking for a refund, of if you played it for less than 2 hours, whichever comes first. On GOG you can ask for a refund up to 30 days after purchase.

### <a id="32-bit-mac-games"></a>32-bit Mac Games

When Apple decided to drop 32-bit support with macOS Catalina, many Mac games became non-functional overnight. The games could still be played provided you didn't update macOS but since Steam eventually also dropped support for 32-bit on macOS, there is no way to run these games natively on macOS anymore, at least not directly, but the workarounds listed here can apply in some cases.

> [!NOTE]
> Valve decided to make developers manually specify if their game was 64-bit in the SteamWorks database, making games 32-bit by default. Games assumed to be 32-bit are signaled in the game library by an icon (🚫) next to their name and a message on their description page in the store, atop the "add to cart" button.
> <img width="1200" height="162" alt="capture of the message shown on top of the 'add to cart' button, saying 'Notice: This product is not compatible with macOS 10.15 Catalina. Click here for more information.'" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/18297f25-6b91-49ee-af8e-a78294ca0429" />
>  These games are filtered out when clicking on the Apple logo to filter the Mac-only games. Unfortunately, many 64-bit games are incorrectly assumed to be 32-bit. Some of them are listed [here](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17DkOsI9AwAT4dzPkLmunYJJmUpf1FuWR62Q1vAEfJzM/edit?usp=sharing).
> Additionally, games that were delisted from the store are all reported as 64-bit in the library, whether the database says so or not.

## <a id="ios-versions"></a>iOS Versions

Some Windows games have also been released for iPhone and iPad, and those apps can technically run on Apple Silicon-based Macs when allowed by their publishers on the App Store, which is arguably the closest thing to a native macOS version. However, many games are simply not allowed to run. There is a workaround for this with [PlayCover](https://playcover.io/) and [Sideloadly](https://sideloadly.io/), which are free apps that allow sideloading and running decrypted iOS/iPadOS apps on Apple Silicon-based Macs.
For 32 bits games that won't work with PlayCover, there is an emulator for the early iPhones called [touchHLE](https://github.com/touchHLE/touchHLE/releases).

## <a id="modern-windows-games"></a>Modern Windows Games

### <a id="translation-layers"></a>Translation Layers

#### <a id="tl-background"></a>Background

For those who want to run Windows games (with no [native port](#native-mac-games)/[iOS version](#ios-versions)) on their Apple-silicon hardware (and not through a [cloud provider](#cloud-gaming)), this is likely the best option. Modern windows games (from this century) are going to be x86, Windows, likely [DirectX](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DirectX)-based titles. This means multiple translation layers are necessary to play on an ARM (Apple silicon), macOS, [Metal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_(API)) machine:
- [Apple silicon only] Rosetta 2: Apple tool that translates x86 into ARM instructions
- Operating system layer: [Wine](https://www.winehq.org/) translates Windows API instructions into macOS API instructions on the fly
- Graphics layers: : These translate the GPU instructions from DirectX API to Apple's Metal graphics API
   - [D3DMetal](https://developer.apple.com/games/game-porting-toolkit/): DirectX 11/12 to Metal
   - [DXMT](https://github.com/3Shain/dxmt): DirectX 10/11 to Metal
   - [VKD3D](https://gitlab.winehq.org/wine/vkd3d/-/wikis/home): DirectX 12 to Vulkan and then through [MoltenVK](https://github.com/KhronosGroup/MoltenVK) to Metal
   - [DXVK](https://github.com/Gcenx/DXVK-macOS)[^4]: DirectX 10/11 to Vulkan and then through [MoltenVK](https://github.com/KhronosGroup/MoltenVK) to Metal
   - [WineD3D](https://fdossena.com/?p=wined3d/index.frag): DirectX 1-11 to OpenGL

[^4]: DXVK used on Mac is a special macOS version based off an older version of the DXVK used in Linux.

#### <a id="tl-tools"></a>Tools

Unless you are keen on building everything from source and integrating the layers yourself, you are best served using one of the following programs that combine them:

- [CrossOver](https://www.codeweavers.com/crossover/) (paid, see footnote)[^1]
- [Sikarugir](https://github.com/Sikarugir-App/Sikarugir) (successor of Wineskin and Kegworks, free and open source)
- [Heroic Games Launcher](https://heroicgameslauncher.com/) (free and open source)
- [GameHub](https://www.gamemac.com/en) (beta)
- [Porting Kit](https://www.portingkit.com/) (free)
- [Game Porting Toolkit](https://developer.apple.com/games/game-porting-toolkit/) (command-line interface only, free)
- [Wine](https://www.winehq.org/) (free and open source)
- [ChooChoo Loader](https://github.com/wowitsjack/choochoo-loader/)[^2]
- [Yaagl](https://github.com/yaagl/yet-another-anime-game-launcher) (specific for GI/HSR/ZZZ)

[Winetricks](https://github.com/Winetricks/winetricks) is a script (embedded in CrossOver, Sikarugir, and Heroic) which allows installation of necessary dependencies (such as Microsoft DLLs and fonts), tweak settings, and workarounds to make games work with Wine and its derivatives.

> [!NOTE]
> While not every Windows game will work flawlessly (most notably, games with anti-cheat protection won't run), translation layers are usually the best option to try before virtualization

[^1]: CrossOver usually offers the best compatibility and most up-to-date versions of Wine and the various DirectX translation interfaces. **Codeweavers is also the biggest contributor to the Wine project, so supporting them helps everyone, especially because almost all the other projects use CrossOver's Wine sources.** A common misconception about CrossOver is that the fee only allows you to use it for a year, whereas in reality you can use it forever, but you only get a year's worth of free updates. Historically, they have had a good sale around Cyber Monday. [CXPatcher](https://github.com/italomandara/CXPatcher) is a non-official tool that allows updating CrossOver's dependencies, such as updated graphics layers. CrossOver also comes with CrossTies, a list of game-specific fixes and workarounds for games that don't run out of the box through Wine, but starting with CrossOver 25 this will be phased out due to better general compatibility.
[^2]: For injecting trainers, cheats, and debuggers, one can use the ChooChoo Loader Engine to act as a pre-loader.
This ensure all processes are able to see and interact with each other in a Wine gaming enviroment.

If you want to know if a specific game runs, there are compatibility lists:
- [for CrossOver](https://www.codeweavers.com/crossover/#compatibility)
- [for Porting Kit](https://www.portingkit.com/games)
- https://www.applegamingwiki.com/wiki/Home
- https://macgamingdb.app/

#### <a id="launchers"></a>Launchers
Sometimes, the Windows version of specific store launchers (GOG Galaxy, Epic Games Launcher, Amazon Games) have updates which break support for the above software translation layers. A workaround is to use a 3rd-party launcher that calls the stores' APIs, such as:
- [Heroic Games Launcher](https://heroicgameslauncher.com/): supports GoG, Epic Games Store, and Amazon Games; can run games with external versions of Wine such as CrossOver
- [Mythic](https://getmythic.app/): only supports the Epic Games Store and only runs Windows games with its own embedded version of Wine based on deprecated Whisky project

Note there are also other launchers which do not call stores' APIs directly and serve only to consolidate/facilitate game launching, including:
- [Phoenix](https://www.phoenixlauncher.app/)
- [Aether](https://github.com/VibeNoobNotFound/Aether)

#### <a id="avx-f16c"></a>Handling AVX, AVX2, FMA, F16C, and BMI
Some Windows games will sometimes require specific CPU instruction set extensions found on Intel/AMD x86 processors to run, such as AVX, AVX2, FMA, F16C, or BMI. As of macOS Sequoia: AVX, AVX2, and FMA are handled by Rosetta 2. Apple added F16C and BMI support to Rosetta 2 in macOS 15.4; previous versions of macOS require individual patches for specific games as a workaround (see footnote)[^3]

[^3]: [patch for God of War: Ragnarok](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNKtbUVEgSU)  
[patch for Ghost of Tsushima](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwJwlRHW3k4)  
[patch for Horizon Forbidden West](https://community.pcgamingwiki.com/files/file/3114-horizon-forbidden-west-f16c-инструкции-исправить/)

To advertise support for these instructions, `ROSETTA_ADVERTISE_AVX=1` must be added in the launch parameters of your game (for Steam: select your game properties and paste it in the launch options field at the bottom of the General tab). Note that as of CrossOver 25, this isn't necessary anymore as it is handled automatically. Some other tools also handle it automatically now.

### <a id="virtualization"></a>Virtualization

Virtualization aims to setup a guest operating system, sharing resources with the macOS host. It differs from emulation because it attempts to run the operating system natively and share the host processor between the host and guest. For instance, a Nintendo Switch runs on an ARM processor, and thus can be virtualized on an Apple Silicon-based Mac. While there is an overhead compared to running a game on its original platform since the hardware is shared with macOS, it's generally faster than emulation, which converts one instruction set to another. Unlike translation layers, virtualization requires installing complete operating systems (like Windows or Linux) and is therefore usually more focused on general-purpose computing than gaming. **In fact, currently none of the following virtualization tools support DirectX 12.**

- [Parallels Desktop](https://www.parallels.com/) (the only *Microsoft-sanctioned* solution to virtualize Windows for ARM, paid)
- [VMWare Fusion](https://blogs.vmware.com/teamfusion/2024/05/fusion-pro-now-available-free-for-personal-use.html) (free for personal use)
- [Oracle VirtualBox](https://www.virtualbox.org/) (free)
- [UTM](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/utm-virtual-machines/id1538878817) (free and open source)

> [!CAUTION]
> Limitations should be kept in mind. For example, [UTM does not support any GPU acceleration](https://mac.getutm.app/). Also, while you technically can use some virtualization tools to emulate Windows x86 on Apple Silicon, there will be a huge performance penalty. For this reason, almost all the tools above only support Windows for ARM on Apple Silicon (which runs faster). This means you would need to verify your game will run on that version of the operating system without issue.

## <a id="cloud-gaming"></a>Cloud Gaming

Cloud gaming runs games on a remote machine and streams the video output to your Mac in real-time, while your Mac just displays the video stream and sends controller inputs to the server. It requires a good internet connection, but it can sometimes be the only solution for specific games. Note that most of these only support a limited selection of games and require monthly payments.

One option which is too often overlooked or unknown is Steam's [Remote Play Together](https://store.steampowered.com/together). With this feature, you can play with your friends online, even if only one player owns the game, and even if the game isn't available for macOS, at no cost. [Here is the page for all supported games](https://store.steampowered.com/remoteplay_together).

- [NVIDIA GeForce Now](https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce-now/) (If you're having stuttering issues over WiFi, [here's a fix](https://www.reddit.com/r/GeForceNOW/comments/195l8ff/stuttering_issues_with_geforce_now_on_macos_over/). There is also a [menubar tool](https://github.com/victorbrandaao/GFNOptimizer/releases/tag/v1.0.1) to fix the issue)
- [Xbox Cloud Gaming](https://www.xbox.com/en-US/cloud-gaming)
- [Amazon Luna](https://luna.amazon.com) (works only on Google Chrome, free weekly games with Amazon Prime)
- [Boosteroid](https://boosteroid.com/)
- [Shadow](https://shadow.tech/)
- [AntStream](https://www.antstream.com) (retro games)

### <a id="local-area-streaming"></a>Local Area Streaming

If you have another gaming machine, there are also local streaming solutions which allow you to play a streamed game, running on your (or a friend's) gaming machine, on your Mac:

- [Steam Link](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/steam-link/id1246969117) (Mac App Store link) : a selection of Steam games can be run on your PC and played on your Mac. You can even stream Windows games running on your Mac through CrossOver ([see here](https://www.reddit.com/r/macgaming/comments/1szo2el/using_steam_link_to_play_crossover_games_it_works/).
- [PS Remote](https://www.playstation.com/en-us/support/games/playstation-remote-play-on-pc-and-mac/): allows streaming games from your PS5 to your Mac
- [Moonlight](https://github.com/moonlight-stream/moonlight-qt): allows low-latency streaming from a NVIDIA GPU-powered PC to your Mac over your local network
- [Greenlight](https://github.com/unknownskl/greenlight): 3rd-party app that allows streaming from your Xbox One or Series X/S console (using [Remote Play](https://www.xbox.com/en-US/consoles/remote-play)) as well as xCloud titles to your Mac

### <a id="dual-booting"></a>Dual Booting

#### Windows (Intel-Only)
Intel-based Macs can boot Windows like any other PC thanks to [Boot Camp](https://support.apple.com/us-en/guide/bootcamp-control-panel/bcmp29b8ac66/mac). This will run any Windows game.

> [!NOTE]
> Apple Silicon-based Macs cannot boot Windows, though Apple has said it is open to making Boot Camp available to run Windows for ARM, pending Microsoft's approval.

#### Linux
Additionally, Intel-based Macs can dual-boot on [Batocera](https://batocera.org/), a Linux distribution centered around launching emulators and ROMs with a dedicated interface.

M1 & M2 Macs can dual-boot on [Asahi Linux](https://asahilinux.org/), which allows running Windows games with Proton translation right from within Steam. However, this is essentially using translation layers on a different operating system, and the operating system itself needs to overcome compatibility with Mac hardware.

## <a id="games-available-on-other-platforms"></a>Games Available on Other Platforms

These games can be run either through emulation or virtualization depending on the processor of the platform it runs on. There are countless emulators available for macOS, supporting the most famous to the most obscure platforms, so this list won't be exhaustive and will only feature the most prominent emulators. Some Windows games were also released on these platforms (or inversely, some games first released on older platforms were eventually released on Steam through emulation), which provides an alternative, and sometimes superior, way of playing them on macOS. Some emulators provide improvements to how the original games ran, for instance by increasing their resolution, or even supporting bespoke HD graphical packs, effectively offering a "remastered" experience.

[Detailed "how-to" video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoWn4rS7Vxs) from Retro Game Corps for setting up various emulators on Mac

### <a id="multiple-platform-emulators"></a>Multiple Platform Emulators

- [OpenEmu](https://openemu.org/), a scarcely updated, very polished, Mac-only app that emulates many platforms
- [RetroArch](https://www.retroarch.com/), also available on [Steam](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1118310/RetroArch/) and the [Mac App Store](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/retroarch/id6499539433)
- [Ares](https://ares-emu.net/)
- [Nostlan](https://qashto.itch.io/nostlan) (paid): a front-end for multiple emulators focused on ease of use and automatic setup

### <a id="sony-playstation-series"></a>Sony PlayStation Series

- [ShadPS4](https://shadps4.net/) : PlayStation 4
- [RPCS3](https://rpcs3.net/) : PlayStation 3 ([compatibility list](https://rpcs3.net/compatibility))
- [PCSX2](https://pcsx2.net/) ([compatibility list](https://pcsx2.net/compat)) and [Armsx2](https://armsx2.net/) (native Apple Silicon): PlayStation 2
- [DuckStation](https://www.duckstation.org/) : PS1
- [Vita3K](https://vita3k.org) : PS Vita
- [PPSSPP](https://www.ppsspp.org/) : PSP

If you have a PlayStation and want to stream your games to play on your Mac, look at [Local Area Streaming](#local-area-streaming).

### <a id="xbox-series"></a>Xbox Series

- [Xemu](https://xemu.app/): Xbox
- [XeniOS](https://xenios.jp/download/mac): Xbox 360

If you have a Xbox and want to stream your games to play on your Mac, look at [Local Area Streaming](#local-area-streaming).

### <a id="nintendo-consoles"></a>Nintendo Consoles

- [Ryujinx](https://git.ryujinx.app/ryubing/ryujinx/-/releases): Switch
- [Cemu](https://cemu.info/): Wii U
- [Dolphin](https://www.dolphin-emu.org/): GameCube & Wii
- [Azahar](https://azahar-emu.org/) Nintendo 3DS

### <a id="android"></a>Android

> [!NOTE]
> This is technically virtualization and not emulation since Android runs on ARM processors just like Apple Silicon-based Macs.

- [Bluestacks Air](https://www.bluestacks.com/mac) (free)
- [NoxPlayer](https://www.bignox.com/) (Doesn't work on Apple Silicon, free with ads/subscription)
- [MumuPlayer](https://www.mumuplayer.com/mac/) (paid)
- [Alloy](https://alloystation.com/) (Apple Silicon only, paid)

### <a id="ms-dos-games"></a>MS-DOS Games

- [Boxer](https://github.com/MaddTheSane/Boxer/releases/tag/AS-beta-4.1) (turns MS-DOS games into macOS apps with an intuitive interface)
- [DOSBox](https://www.dosbox.com/)
- [DOSBox-X](https://dosbox-x.com/) (a more flexible version of DOSBox, with more features)
- [DOSBox Staging](https://www.dosbox-staging.org/) (a more modern version of DOXBox, complete with CRT emulation)
- [Dreamm](https://aarongiles.com/dreamm/) (a bespoke emulator for LucasArts games and some other miscellaneous MS-DOS games)

### <a id="windows-9598"></a>Windows 95/98
- [86Box](https://github.com/86Box/86Box/releases) : Low level harware PC emulator supporting several OSes, including BeOS & NextStep ([video tutorial](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xghrSaKn7yM))
- [MacBox for 86Box](https://github.com/Moonif/MacBox) : optional manager app for 86Box ([video guide](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLRab9n8tm8))

### <a id="MacOS-9"></a>MacOS 9
Older versions of macOS X once allowed to run apps made for MacOS 9 in a dedicated environment called Classic. You can relive those days with emulators such as [Basilisk II](https://basilisk.cebix.net/), [SheepShaver](http://sheepshaver.cebix.net/) and even the classic black and white Macintosh of yore with [MiniVMac](https://www.gryphel.com/c/minivmac/).
Edward Mendelson even made a custom distribution of SheepShaver with additional features such as a shared folders and printer support, ready to use, called [Mac OS 9](https://www.mendelson.org/macos9osx.html). (thanks [u/HomeStarRunnerTron](https://www.reddit.com/user/HomeStarRunnerTron/)!)

Additionally, [Snow](https://snowemu.com/) emulates 680x0-based Macs, from the original Macintosh 128K to the Macintosh IIx, IIcx, and SE/30. [UTM](https://mac.getutm.app/) can also run Intel-based Mac apps, including 32 bits ones, on Apple Silicon, but it's probably too slow to run most games decently enough.

To emulate PowerPC-based Macs, you can use [UTM](https://mac.getutm.app/) (to run MacOS X 10.0 to 10.5), [SheepShaver](http://sheepshaver.cebix.net/) (for up to MacOS 9.0.4), or [InfiniteMac.org](InfiniteMac.org) to run Mac emulators directly in your web browser.

## <a id="game-engine-ports-hacks-and-patches"></a>Game Engine Ports, Hacks, and Patches

### <a id="unity-and-adobe-air-games"></a>Unity and Adobe Air Games

It is possible to make a selection of Windows and Mac 32-bit games made with Unity or Adobe Air run on recent Macs, on occasion even as Universal Binaries.

- [Adobe Air games](https://m0rekz.github.io/blogspot/air-32-to-64.html)
- [Unity games](https://github.com/boggydigital/mac-gaming-guides/blob/main/common/unity-porting.md)

### <a id="RPG-maker-games"></a>RPG Maker games:
You can run RPG Maker 2000/2003 games with [EasyRPG Player](https://easyrpg.org/player/downloads/#release-macos). And another very recently created tool for running RPG Maker MV, MZ, XP, VX and VX Ace games is [RPG-Maker-MacOS-Launcher](https://github.com/m5kro/RPG-Maker-MacOS-Launcher). It isn't perfectly compatible with every game built on this software, especially if it uses Windows 32 API stuff, or additional Ruby scripts, but there are workarounds for a lot of issues. (thanks [u/HomeStarRunnerTron](https://www.reddit.com/user/HomeStarRunnerTron/)!)

### <a id="mac-source-ports"></a>Mac Source Ports

These are games or game engines which either became open source, were reverse engineered or remade from zero. Tom Kidd builds, signs, and notarize many of them for macOS (even ones that didn't had macOS support), supporting [156 games](https://www.macsourceports.com/) when this guide was published.

### <a id="scummvm"></a>ScummVM

[ScummVM](https://www.scummvm.org) is a port of various game engines that supports 381 different games when this guide was published.

### <a id="recompilations"></a>Recompilations

Some developers have managed to port some console games to other platforms, including the Mac, by providing tools that decompile released games and recompile them to the target platform as native applications. These often include faster/smoother execution than on the original hardware, quality of life improvements (support for different screen aspect ratio and resolution, improved graphics, support for mods, etc). For these to be legal, they cannot distribute copyrighted material so you need to provide a dump of the supported games for them to be "transformed" into a native Mac game.

#### Gameboy
- [Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow](https://github.com/bryanthaboi/gen1recomp) with support for mods like [3D rendering](https://github.com/DramaticShape/DramaticShapeVoxelMod) ([video tutorial](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_01Sm2lWwgM&t=4s))

#### Nintendo 64:

- [The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time](https://www.shipofharkinian.com/fr)
- [The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask](https://github.com/HarbourMasters/2ship2harkinian/releases)
- [The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask](https://github.com/Zelda64Recomp/Zelda64Recomp): different static recompilation project from the above
- [StarFox 64](https://github.com/HarbourMasters/Starship?tab=readme-ov-file)
- [StarFox 64](https://github.com/sonicdcer/Starfox64Recomp/releases/latest): different static recompilation project from the above
- [Super Mario 64](https://mameonmacs.blogspot.com/2024/11/super-mario-64-hacks-on-apple-silicon.html)
- [Perfect Dark](https://github.com/shinra-electric/Perfect-Dark-Build-Script)
- [Banjo Kazooie](https://github.com/BanjoRecomp/BanjoRecomp/releases/latest)
- [Mario Kart 64](https://github.com/sonicdcer/MarioKart64Recomp/releases/latest)
- [Paper Mario 64](https://github.com/chrissotraidis/paperpad)

#### GameCube:
- [Animal Crossing](https://github.com/chrissotraidis/bellpad)
- [Super Mario Sunshine](https://github.com/chrissotraidis/sunpad)
- [Metroid Prime](https://github.com/chrissotraidis/ectopad)

#### Wii/Wii U:
- [The legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess](https://twilitrealm.dev/)

#### Playstation 2:
- [Jak and Daxter 1, 2 and 3](https://opengoal.dev/)

#### XBox 360:
- [Skate 3](https://github.com/mchughalex/skate3recomp/releases/latest) (Apple Silicon)
- [GoldenEye 007](https://github.com/ysrdevs/goldeneye-metal/releases/tag/v0.1.0) (Apple Silicon only)
- Sonic Unleashed [GitHub project](https://github.com/hedge-dev/UnleashedRecomp),
To download the latest Apple Silicon binary of Sonic Unleashed (you must be logged in on GitHub for this to work):
1. click [this link](https://github.com/squidbus/UnleashedRecomp/actions/workflows/validate-internal.yml)
2. click on the topmost "generate build"
3. in the left pane, expand the "build" section by clicking on it, then click on Build macOS (arm64, macos-release)
4. scroll down to "upload artifact" and clic on it to expand
5. click on the link below "Artifact download URL:", your download will start

### <a id="sonic-ports"></a>Sonic Ports

The first four are decompilations of [Christian Whitehead](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Whitehead#Retro_Engine)'s various versions of the Retro Engine, the last one is a recompilation of the XBox 360 version of the game. For obvious copyright reasons, you must provide game files for these to work.

- [Sonic 1 & 2](https://github.com/Sappharad/Sonic-1-2-2013-Decompilation)
- [Sonic 3 & Knuckles](https://projects.sappharad.com/s3air_mac/)
- [Sonic CD](https://github.com/Sappharad/Sonic-CD-11-Decompilation)
- [Sonic Mania](https://github.com/Sappharad/Sonic-Mania-Decompilation)
- Sonic Unleashed [GitHub project](https://github.com/hedge-dev/UnleashedRecomp),
To download the latest Apple Silicon binary of Sonic Unleashed (you must be logged in on GitHub for this to work):
1. click [this link](https://github.com/squidbus/UnleashedRecomp/actions/workflows/validate-internal.yml)
2. click on the topmost "generate build"
3. in the left pane, expand the "build" section by clicking on it, then click on Build macOS (arm64, macos-release)
4. scroll down to "upload artifact" and clic on it to expand
5. click on the link below "Artifact download URL:", your download will start

### <a id="individual-mac-ports"></a>Individual Mac Ports

- [Half-Life 2](https://github.com/nonoche2/HL2-patcher)
- [Half-Life 2 Episode 1 & 2](https://jxhug.notion.site/Guide-to-Installing-Half-Life-2-Using-Source-Engine-on-macOS-9fa5ffc910f5454ab0f0e5da2a9e5b9f)
- [Portal](https://github.com/nonoche2/Portal-patcher)
- [Omori](https://github.com/SnowpMakes/omori-apple-silicon)
- [Final Fantasy XIV](https://www.xivmac.com/)
- [Frown](https://github.com/coatlessali/Frown/releases/tag/2025.04.15): Ultrakill
- [Doukutsu-RS](https://doukutsu.rs/): Cave Story+
- [Road to Vostok](https://github.com/Ozicom23/road-to-vostok-mac-build-script) script that converts the Windows game into a native Apple Silicon port
- [mcpelauncher](https://github.com/hugonote/mcpelauncher-swift) launcher for Minecraft Bedrock

Additionnally, here are some [fixes and upgrades](https://github.com/nonoche2/the-macOS-games-fixes-repo) for native Mac games.

## <a id="mod-managers"></a>Mod managers
- [AppleBlox](https://appleblox.com/): a Roblox launcher for macOS
- [MelonLoader](https://github.com/LavaGang/MelonLoader/): a mod manager for Unity games
- [R2ModMac](https://github.com/Zard-Studios/r2modmac): a mod manager for Thunderstore supported games
- [Prism Launcher](https://prismlauncher.org/): a mod manager dedicated to Minecraft
- [cp2077 Mac Archive Patcher](https://github.com/brunoformagio/cp2077-mac-archive-patcher): makes many archive-only PC mods work on the native macOS version of CyberPunk 2077
- [MacValheim Mod Manager](https://www.reddit.com/r/valheim/comments/1vdkoww/comment/p19v2l5/?context=1&screen_view_count=1&ext-referrer=DIRECT) a mod manager for Valheim

## <a id="making-vr-work"></a>Making SteamVR work
People have made some progress with running tethered VR games:
- [video 1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tLuKZz15FY)
- [video 2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wzk3nBWMKL8)
(thanks [u/HomeStarRunnerTron](https://www.reddit.com/user/HomeStarRunnerTron/)!)
[MoltenVR](https://github.com/112cxyz/MoltenVR-Preview) Runs VR games (both native and through Wine) from your Mac to your VR headset

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