Playing games on MacBook

[jacobkpl]

Hi! I just bought a Macbook Air M3, im searching a way to play some games on this macbook? May someone recommend some app(free to download or cheap) on which i can play smoothly games without any worries?

 

[MacsBug]

What kind of games are you looking to play? Are they games that are designed to be played on a Mac, or games that are designed for Windows?

 

[jacobkpl]

mostly they are designed for win. i’m looking for games like heavy rain, beyond two souls etc however im wondering bout games like the witcher 3, dying light 1/2 and also older like whole series of tomb raider and left 4 dead 2! (i’m working with steam, ea app only for the sims)

 

[MacsBug]

Originally I was going to say that you are out of luck, but I decided to try to install Steam and the demo for Beyond 2 Souls in Windows on my M3 MacBook Pro. I was amazed that I was able to install it and the graphics were very smooth on my system.

I use VMware Fusion (which is free for personal use) to run Windows 11 for ARM. You will need a Windows 10 or 11 key in order to install Windows 11 in Fusion.

On my system I assigned 8 cores to Windows and 32GB of ram. On a MacBook Air you don't have that many cores or that much ram, since the Air's max out at 24GB.

You might want to try installing Fusion and then Windows 11 for Arm and try it for yourself to see if you are able to run the games that you want.

 

[jacobkpl]

Okay,thanks a lot for recommendation, if I had any issues with it, can I write to you on private messages??

 

[MacsBug]

Sure, feel free to either leave a message here or PM me.

 

[willywilly]

so what are you using now actually?

 

[Rodananne]

CrossOver will allow you to run the PC version of Steam and Epic giving you access to most Windows based games but honestly, if you want to play Windows games don't buy a Mac.

I have successfully run Borderlands 3 on Steam via CrossOver on an M1 and I'm sure the M3 would be even better.

 

[willywilly]

thanks

 

[Rodananne]

The problem is, emulators like Paralles and CrossOver use resources as do Steam and Epic players, then you have the game itself. It's never going to run as well as a native game. For a good example I'm currently playing Borderlands 2 from the Apple App Store it plays beautifully at maximum performance settings an utilises Apple's dedicated Game Mode in full screen which does not work with Steam games.
Borderlands 2 hardly raises the temp of my MBP whereas the same game on Steam was almost unplayable and required a third party app to increase the fan speed to prevent my MBP from overheating.
Bottom line here, buy a good second hand Windows laptop as a dedicated gaming machine. At least until a better way of porting Windows programs to Apple devices is found. Otherwise we're all stuck with Arcade.

 

[willywilly]

Completely agree with you. I would love to play club pogo games and have no idea for the best setup for it. Maybe getting a second-hand gaming laptop is not a bad idea, especially since you can find some great deals on gently used models. It’s important to find one that can handle the demands of gaming without lagging, so looking for a laptop with good RAM, a solid graphics card, and a fast processor is key.

 

[FrankG]

Hi! I just bought a Macbook Air M3, im searching a way to play some games on this macbook? May someone recommend some app(free to download or cheap) on which i can play smoothly games without any worries?

Congratulations on your new MacBook Air M3! For a great gaming experience, consider subscribing to Apple Arcade ($4.99/month) for access to games that are optimized for your device. You can also download free platforms like Steam and the Epic Games Store to find macOS-compatible titles. If you're interested in playing more demanding games, cloud gaming services like GeForce NOW are a fantastic option. Additionally, don't overlook the indie games available on Itch.io, which offer some excellent choices.

 

[abmaxim]

BlueStacks just released BlueStacks Air for Apple Silicon Macs and Its great to play AAA mobile games like Royal Match, Whiteout Survival, Pokemon TCG on Mac...

 

[veildsky]

I game on luna.. and my kids game on Microsoft cloud

 

[Detelpa725]

Among Us or Hades are best