Gaming on a MacBook Pro

November 15, 2021 8:51 AM

I started playing video games during the great pandemic lockdown of 2020. I have a Switch and an old XBox 360. I like open world exploration games - so far I've played Breath of the Wild, Skyrim, Fallout 3, and am now on Immortals: Fenyx Rising. While I impatiently wait to get my hands on modern XBox or PlayStation, it occurred to me: Can I play games in this vein on my MacBook Pro?

The computer is new; I just bought it this summer. The specs are:
* Apple M1 chip with 8‑core CPU, 8‑core GPU, and 16‑core Neural Engine
* GRAPHICS 065-C96Q 8-core GPU
* 16GB unified memory
* 512GB SSD storage

I was googling around a little yesterday and reading about having to install things that let me run Windows, etc., and I don't really want to bother with all that. I just want to know if there are games that will work on the MacOS that can scratch the same itch as Breath of the Wild and Skyrim.

posted by something something to Computers & Internet (18 answers total)

Best answer: Steam has a wide selection of different games that will run natively in macOS, which would be a good first place to look.

Unfortunately, running Skyrim or Fallout 3, which weren't designed to run natively on macOS, would mean fiddling around with a tool that adds support for Windows games to macOS like Crossover.
posted by eschatfische at 9:14 AM on November 15, 2021 [1 favorite]

Yes, you can install Steam on MacOS. There's a whole category of 'Open World' games, and if you look at the list, there will be an Apple icon on the games that are compatible. You probably don't need to worry too much about specs as yours are solidly on par with or better than most gaming computers.
posted by thewumpusisdead at 9:17 AM on November 15, 2021

Definitely get Steam, which is free, and try out a few games that have a Mac version. You can easily return Steam games for a full refund if you’ve played them for less then two hours or so. That said, I am always disappointed at my MacBook Pros ability to run mainstream AAA games — terrible graphics, slow frame rate, etc. Seems like a lot is lost in the transition to macOS. There are lots of indie games that will run great though, but they are not typically open world.
posted by TurnKey at 9:48 AM on November 15, 2021

The big caveat with Mac games, even through Steam or GoG or whatever, is that newer versions of MacOS (Catalina and up, IIRC, which you'll definitely have if your machine is less than a year old) won't run 32-bit binaries. That's no problem for new games, but if you're like me and you're permanently lodged ten years into the past with your gaming choices, you're at the mercy of development studios deciding to re-release 64-bit binaries for Mac compatibility. As you might expect, that landscape is pretty inconsistent... I'm still not able to run a few favorites without doing something crazy like dual-booting.
posted by Mayor West at 9:50 AM on November 15, 2021

Best answer: There's also, of course, streaming games. I played Immortals on Stadia and it was fine. There's also GeForce Now and Gamepass Ultimate, which will allow you to stream console games. Not sure what's going to scratch your itch, but going that direction, you'll be spoiled for choice.
posted by Pacrand at 10:13 AM on November 15, 2021

Best answer: A lot of the advice out there will apply entirely or mainly to Intel, not M1, Macs. However GeForce Now is fully updated for M1, so look at that—full warning, it won't necessarily have every game you want it to.

Games-wise, I would definitely check out Fallout: New Vegas. No Man's Sky might scratch your itch if you're big on the "exploration" part and less needful of plot and writing.
posted by Maecenas at 10:39 AM on November 15, 2021

Best answer: Oh also Horizon: Zero Dawn; it was originally a PS4 game but is now available on steam, and a sequel is coming out soon.
posted by Maecenas at 10:45 AM on November 15, 2021

It's not as fast-paced as the games you mentioned, but on my Mac I've been enjoying Wildermyth. (Likely to need Rosetta emulation on M1 though.)
posted by supercres at 10:47 AM on November 15, 2021 [1 favorite]

Best answer: It's a bit more puzzly than a pure open world game, but I loved exploring the solar system of Outer Wilds. I'm pretty along your lines as a gamer, so if you don't mind solving some mystery it might be a great fit for you.
posted by lhputtgrass at 10:52 AM on November 15, 2021

I'll second streaming as an option. I use Shadow, though I'm not sure if they're currently accepting new signups. It's pretty much like having a gaming PC you can access from anywhere, including your mac, but also any other devices you might have lying around. Bandwidth can be adjusted if it consumes too much, though I haven't encountered that particular issue myself.
posted by Alensin at 11:26 AM on November 15, 2021

You may also be able to run some games using Parallels to run Windows. I'm on an M1 Pro, so your mileage may vary compared to mine, but I've had no problems with it so far.
posted by neilbert at 1:10 PM on November 15, 2021

macOS 10.14 Mojave or macOS 10.13 High Sierra will run using pretend-to-be-other-computers virtualisation for some of the games on Steam that need 32-bit CPU mode.

Neilbert, does virtualisation need a translation layer for the Apple Silicon GPU that would map the Intel/AMD/nVidia graphics instructions to ones specific to the M1’s graphics circuits?
posted by k3ninho at 2:03 PM on November 15, 2021

Best answer: I'll mention that you can run Borderlands 1, 2 & 3 on a Mac through Steam. Welcome to Pandora, kiddo.
posted by SPrintF at 2:09 PM on November 15, 2021 [1 favorite]

I was googling around a little yesterday and reading about having to install things that let me run Windows, etc., and I don't really want to bother with all that. I just want to know if there are games that will work on the MacOS that can scratch the same itch as Breath of the Wild and Skyrim.

I've played various games on an M1 mac mini (and other macs before that) and, streaming aside, I think the answer to this is basically no, if you are looking for AAA games. The aren't a lot of games like this in the first place that run on a mac, and what few there are definitely aren't tuned to M1. (To be clear: there are tons of games for the mac that run well, especially indie ones, just not open world AAA games that I would compare to these two.) Rosetta works fine on a lot of games that are mac native (e.g. I played a bunch of disco elysium with no issues before it got an M1 version), but in my experience 3d performance can be not great for recent games(/apps) not tuned for it (e.g. frostpunk was rough). Yours will be better than mine of course.

The one thing I can think of that may be worth a shot is Subnautica. This ran fine on an older mac (not amazing, but fine) and I've seen reports that it works decently under Rosetta. It's not exactly like either of those two games (a lot smaller for one), but it is an amazing exploration game with a world that is open. Also, moving into more classic RPGs, apparently Baldur's Gate III has an M1 native build.
posted by advil at 2:37 PM on November 15, 2021

Yours will be better than mine of course.

Actually never mind about this, sorry -- I misread and I think I actually have an identical cpu/gpu/memory configuration to you, just in mac mini form.
posted by advil at 2:47 PM on November 15, 2021

While still in Early Access Baldur’s Gate 3 is pretty swell. I am running it on a 5 year old MacBook Pro. They are doing M1 native though their patches for it run behind others (PC, Intel-Macs). It is definitely choppy in places for me but it is supposed to run pretty well on newer machines.
posted by Wink Ricketts at 8:00 PM on November 15, 2021

Just to be clear, the one basically foolproof way to run Windows games on a Mac is called "Bootcamp", because you boot into actual, bare-metal Windows on your Mac. However, this is not available on the Apple silicon Macs at all, because there is no bare-metal version of Windows that works on those chips. Any Windows games on an Apple silicon Mac are going to be running through some sort of virtualization or emulation, and will not run as well.
posted by wnissen at 8:29 AM on November 16, 2021

If you liked Fallout 3 but haven't already played Fallout New Vegas, you are in for a treat. Pretty much everyone rates New Vegas as better than 3. The engine is more or less the same though, so if you can run 3 you should be able to run NV.
posted by mrgoldenbrown at 10:14 AM on November 16, 2021