Filed under: Gaming
Mac gaming on the cheap: Our favorite low-cost Mac games
With the release of Myst Online for the Mac* (and our own nagging, monthly World of Warcraft bills), we TUAW bloggers got together to discuss our favorite low-cost Mac games. Sure, those MMORPGs are fun, but $14.99/month (Warcraft) and $6.95/month (Myst) isn't. So, in the name of gaming cheapskates everywhere, here's our list of great, inexpensive Mac games (in no particular order).SketchFighter 4000 Alpha by Ambrosia Software. Cost: $19US. Requirements: Mac OS 10.2 or later.
By Ambrosia Software, this shoot-em-up game features upgradeable spaceships, mean bosses, challenging levels and even a level editor. But most of all, we love the dead-on, retro, "hand-sketched" graphics. SketchFighter was designed to look like the very images that young geeks like me spent all of Jr. high school scribbling on notebook paper, and the developers at Ambrosia really nailed it. As an 11 year old, I could only imagine my creations coming to life. Ambrosia made it actually happen, and as a result SketchFighter is wicked fun to play.
More after the jump.
Quinn by Simon Haertel. Cost: Free! Requirements: Mac OS 10.4.2
I can distinctly remember taking my first "real" job in 1994. On the desk was a Macintosh Quadra, and I wasted hours upon hours playing the old, black and white copy of Tetris on that machine's drive. Eventually I started dreaming of descending shapes, and had to take a bit of a break (sadly, that's a true story). Since then, other manufacturers have released their own versions of the game with slightly modified gameplay, but to me those are all "better mousetraps." There's no sense in trying to improve on the original because it just works so well.
Enter Quinn. It behaves just like Tetris is "supposed" to behave, with no terrible "enhancements." With my favorite keys set up the way I like (on the number pad, thank you very much), I'm transported back to 1994. OK, 1994 with color. Now you're just being picky.
Glider Pro (Originally developed by Casady & Greene, ported to Mac OS X by John Calhoun, the game's original author). Cost: Free! Requirements: (Not listed, but it works on Mac OS 10.4).
Let's step back aboard the nostalgia train for just one more game, shall we? Glider Pro was a simple game back when it was released: Pilot a paper airplane successfully through a house, propelled by heating grates, fans, warm candles and what not, all the while avoiding dangerous obstacles like clocks and those fan blades. Doesn't that sound great?
Well, it is. Back in the day there was a level editor, but sadly it wasn't ported to Mac OS X. Pity. Still, it's a fun time-waster, and free to boot.
Mummy Maze by PopCap games. Cost: Play online for free, download the "deluxe" version for $14.95. Requirements: Mac OS 10.2.8 or better.
Mummy Maze is a simple puzzle game that pits you against ancient mummies and worse. You begin on the bottom of a map and travel, Mario-style, from pyramid to pyramid. Once inside, you must escape each pyramid, one move at a time. Your combatants respond to each move you make with a counter-move, so planning is the name of the game. Each pyramid's puzzle is more difficult than the last. It sounds simple, but if you enjoy a good puzzle game, check out Mummy Maze.
So there you have it, four Mac games that are easy on the wallet and fun to play. The next time you receive a bill from Azeroth, consider these gems. We're sure you'll have fun.
*Speaking of which, I tried out Myst last night. You can download the game and have a limited experience (solve one puzzle and visit certain regions) for free. I've got to say it was fun. The gameplay was smooth on my MacBook Pro and the puzzle I solved was fun. What I liked about the original Myst was a part of the online experience, too: You're simply plopped in the middle of nowhere with no hint as what you're supposed to do. Just start walking around and figure it out.
The social aspect is fun as well, as you can chat with any of the players at anytime, team up and even invite people to your own "age." Myst Online requires a Intel-based Mac.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
guilt+1 said 4:46PM on 3-21-2007
I recently re-discovered an old favourite of mine, X-Moto it's free, it's open source and it's highly addictive.
http://xmoto.sf.net
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smartguy said 5:03PM on 3-21-2007
Armagetron Advance is a great free game, you drive around in tron lightcycles. it even has online mode.
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eric said 5:03PM on 3-21-2007
you... you call that gamming.... lol... please hide this for the sake of pc gamer...
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WarnerO said 5:56PM on 3-21-2007
A friend of mine did Marbol - http://www.cagames.com/marbol/ which I found quite addictive.
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João Carlos de Pinho said 6:12PM on 3-21-2007
And don't forget the extremely addictive Ricochet Lost Worlds ( http://ricochetlostworlds.com/Mac.shtml ).
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Aaress said 6:45PM on 3-21-2007
Great stuff - thanks!
Does anyone know of any free jump-and-run style games that work in OS X? I've got SuperTux, but I'm looking for something in the style of the old Nintendo games.
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Ahmad said 6:56PM on 3-21-2007
you should also try out MacSwear if you haven't already
http://wakaba.c3.cx/s/games/macswear.html
it's pretty fun for a while...
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avixe said 7:29PM on 3-21-2007
For anyone interested:
http://www.obsidiancode.com/vocabulicious
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Eccent said 10:03PM on 3-21-2007
If you like first-person shooters with some real-time strategy(base building), I highly suggest tremulous.
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/games/action_adventure/tremulous.html
It's FREE, multi-player, multi-platform(mac,windows,linux) and open-source. You can play an alien or a human. I'll let those interested figure out the rest.
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Robert Paege said 10:04PM on 3-21-2007
Everquest for Mac. Free software download from Sony, around $11/month if you pay for a year (slightly more if you pay for shorter periods). One free month to check it out.
www.eqmac.com
This is an old game but much beloved by those who play it. The community is mature, very kind, helpful and disdainful of punks and griefers. It is much harder in many ways than WoW is and there is a strict and unforgiving death penalty, and we wouldn't have it any other way.
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Dave Zaffrann said 12:31AM on 3-22-2007
If only Mac and PC EverQuest servers were interchangeable, #10...
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Robert Paege said 3:50AM on 3-22-2007
Thank heaven they aren't, #11. The last thing any of us want are a bunch of teenage griefers on Al'Kabor. As it stands, we have many, many ex-EQPC players, and more joining all the time. These are excellent, mature, experienced players and it is a total joy to play with them. The occasional punk that we do get usually doesn't last long or quickly realizes where he is changes his attitude.
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Greg Golinsky said 10:32AM on 3-22-2007
If I want to play a cheap game, I download a demo =p
Still, I have a few of these, they're still fun. A game doesn't need to have extreme gfx to be fun.
Now, I'm going to go play Half Life on my Mac (and Mac OS).
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Reinhard said 10:34AM on 3-22-2007
You forgot two of the greatest games of all time : Tranquility (http://www.tqworld.com) , the only game where slow is good, and then for the racing addicts Reckless Driving (http://www.informatik.uni-bremen.de/~jechter/reckless/index.html) , even hardly to be called politically correct, this rocks :-).
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pittbart said 10:44AM on 3-22-2007
You should also consider.
Battle for Wesnoth---turn-based strategy game with a fantasy theme. Think Warlords or Heroes of Might and Magic.
http://www.wesnoth.org/
Also:
Star Control II --Old school PC Game but its open source and available for the Mac....
http://sc2.sourceforge.net/
Maelstorm: Think Asteroids! http://www.devolution.com/~slouken/Maelstrom/
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topless said 10:45AM on 3-22-2007
Scrabble addicts should know about this: http://macgamestore.com/detail.php?ProductID=679
Lacks internet play but computer opponents are very challenging.
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Steven said 12:14PM on 3-22-2007
Anyone remember Pararena? Lordy, I'd pay good money for an OS X version of that. Also, it'd make for a fun game on the Wii, 'specially if it was two-player. The controls could be kewl.
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Kenny said 6:21PM on 3-22-2007
I'm surprised that Cave Story wasn't mentioned here for the old-school qualities of it. It was originally Japanese, but it was ported to the mac, and also translated to English. It was recently made a universal app as well. This is a platformer that plays almost like Metroid in certain ways, Mario in others, and has some unique elements as well. It's also not that old, just very old-school and awesome. Works with gamepads, and it's free.
Get it here http://www.miraigamer.net/cavestory/
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will said 5:11PM on 3-23-2007
Ugh, the Glider Pro is now unavailable. "You have requested a page that is not currently available due to data transfer restrictions." Thanks .Mac. :p
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Thingme said 6:37PM on 3-24-2007
And no card games on the list???
"Solitaire Till Dawn" is the best collection of card games ever. The devs have come up with a truly beautiful and intuitive method of card handling that makes this package a real pleasure.
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