How to play Windows games on your Mac without Windows

Source: iMore

The Mac has plenty of games, but it’ll always get the short end of the stick compared to Windows. If you want to play the latest games on your Mac, you have no choice but to install Windows . or do you?

There are a few ways you can play Windows games on your Mac without having to dedicate a partition to Boot Camp or giving away vast amounts of hard drive space to a virtual machine app like VMWare Fusion or Parallels Desktop. Here are a few other options for playing Windows games on your Mac without the hassle or expense of having to install Windows.

GeForce Now

Source: Nvidia

PC gaming on Mac? Yes you can, thanks to Nvidia’s GeForce Now. The service allows users to play PC games from Steam or Battle.net on macOS devices. Better still, the graphic power of these games resides on Nvidia’s servers. The biggest drawback: the service remains in beta, and there’s been no announcement when the first full release is coming or what a monthly subscription will cost.

For now, at least, the service is free to try and enjoy. All supported GeForce NOW titles work on Macs, and yes, there are plenty of them already available!

The Wine Project

Source: Wine Project

The Mac isn’t the only computer whose users have wanted to run software designed for Windows. More than 20 years ago, a project was started to enable Windows software to work on POSIX-compliant operating systems like Linux. It’s called The Wine Project, and the effort continues to this day. OS X is POSIX-compliant, too (it’s Unix underneath all of Apple’s gleam, after all), so Wine will run on the Mac also.

Wine is a recursive acronym that stands for Wine Is Not an Emulator. It’s been around the Unix world for a very long time, and because OS X is a Unix-based operating system, it works on the Mac too.

As the name suggests, Wine isn’t an emulator. The easiest way to think about it is as a compatibility layer that translates Windows Application Programming Interface (API) calls into something that the Mac can understand. So when a game says «draw a square on the screen,» the Mac does what it’s told.

You can use straight-up Wine if you’re technically minded. It isn’t for the faint of heart, although there are instructions online, and some kind souls have set up tutorials, which you can find using Google. Wine doesn’t work with all games, so your best bet is for you to start searching for which games you’d like to play and whether anyone has instructions to get it working on the Mac using Wine.

Note: At the time of this writing, The Wine Project does not support macOS 10.15 Catalina.

CrossOver Mac

CodeWeavers took some of the sting out of Wine by making a Wine-derived app called CrossOver Mac. CrossOver Mac is Wine with specialized Mac support. Like Wine, it’s a Windows compatibility layer for the Mac that enables some games to run.

CodeWeavers has modified the source code to Wine, made some improvements to configuration to make it easier, and provided support for their product, so you shouldn’t be out in the cold if you have trouble getting things to run.

My experience with CrossOver — like Wine — is somewhat hit or miss. Its list of actual supported games is pretty small. Many other unsupported games do, in fact work — the CrossOver community has many notes about what to do or how to get them to work, which are referenced by the installation program. Still, if you’re more comfortable with an app that’s supported by a company, CrossOver may be worth a try. What’s more, a free trial is available for download, so you won’t be on the hook to pay anything to give it a shot.

Boxer

If you’re an old-school gamer and have a hankering to play DOS-based PC games on your Mac, you may have good luck with Boxer. Boxer is a straight-up emulator designed especially for the Mac, which makes it possible to run DOS games without having to do any configuring, installing extra software, or messing around in the Mac Terminal app.

With Boxer, you can drag and drop CD-ROMs (or disk images) from the DOS games you’d like to play. It also wraps them into self-contained «game boxes» to make them easy to play in the future and gives you a clean interface to find the games you have installed.

Boxer is built using DOSBox, a DOS emulation project that gets a lot of use over at GOG.com, a commercial game download service that houses hundreds of older PC games that work with the Mac. So if you’ve ever downloaded a GOG.com game that works using DOSBox, you’ll have a basic idea of what to expect.

Some final thoughts

In the end, programs like the ones listed above aren’t the most reliable way to play Windows games on your Mac, but they do give you an option.

Of course, another option is to run Windows on your Mac, via BootCamp or a virtual machine, which takes a little know-how and a lot of memory space on your Mac’s hard drive.

How do you play your Windows games on Mac?

Let us know in the comment below!

Updated October 2019: Updated with the best options.

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Run windows games on mac parallels

By Rob LeFebvre • 9:00 am, August 20, 2012

• How-To
• News
• Top stories

PC games: they can be the bane of a Mac gamer’s existence. The Mac may be a better computer than a windows box, but even so, most games don’t support OS X. Even on Steam, the leader in cross-platform computer game support, most games run only on Windows. The reasons for this are manifold, including mid-level integrated graphics chips and less customizable hardware, but it shouldn’t be this disparate.

There are a few options for running those PC games on Macs, of course. There’s Boot Camp, which allows you to run a full copy of Windows right on your Intel-based Mac, but it requires a reboot to switch between OS X and Windows environments, which can be tedious. There are emulators you can buy, like Parallels and VMWare Fusion, but these never quite pan out, in my experience, as they always seem to be fraught with issues when connecting peripherals, mice, etc. They also cost a bit, and require a full copy of Windows, which will run you some money, too.

I just want a way to play a game that is created for the Windows operating system on my Mac, without a reboot, without buying a new program or new copy of an operating system I really don’t want to use.

Luckily, there’s a way to do just that.

What Is Wine?

Seriously, that’s the self-referencing recursive acronym for Wine. Get it? So clever, those open source folks.

Wine actually runs as more of a translator between the instructions in the PC program and the Mac operating system. It basically fools Windows into thinking they are running in a Windows environment, without actually emulating that environment (and taking the same performance hit) like Parallels does. Wine has the benefit of a large, open-source community for support as well, which means it will continue to get better and improve compatibility for a lot of games along the way.

Speaking of compatibility, not all PC games are going to work with Wine. To find out if the game you want to try to install on your Mac via Wine will work, head over to the Wine HQ website, where they have an entire database full of the games and applications that will work with Wine. They even have levels of how well these work with Wine, including Platinum, Gold, and Silver levels of compatibility.

I chose Guild Wars: it’s a game that has gone free to play lately, is Windows-only for now, and it is listed in the Platinum compatibility list on the Wine HQ site. All the examples from here on out will be from my own experience installing Wine to play Guild Wars on my Mac Mini 2011.

Once you head over there and pick a game, you’ll be ready to make sure you have what you need to run Wine.

What You’ll Need

First up, you’re gonna need an Intel Mac. If you’re still running a Power-PC Mac, a) it’s time to upgrade and b) this isn’t going to work. To find out what kind of Mac you have, click on the Apple menu in the upper left corner of your screen, choose About This Mac, and it will tell you. Honestly, though, if you don’t know what kind of Mac you’re running, you might have a bit of trouble with the following instructions, which assume you have access to your admin account and password, can install XCode, and have the latest Java Development package (it comes as default with Mac OS X 10.7 and up).

You’ll also need the X11 app, which used to be a standard install app starting in OS X 10.5, but which has recently been removed from OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion. If you’re running 10.8, head over to the XQuartz web page to download an open source version of X11 for Mountain Lion. Install it as you would any other package file.

You’ll also need to be comfortable using the command line via the Terminal app, an internet connection, and a couple of hours to work through all the steps involved. It’s not rocket science, but there is a certain level of patience that will be needed.

Next Page: Getting Your Game Running!

Run Windows on Mac

Parallels Desktop 16 for Mac

• Optimized for the latest Windows 10 updates, macOS Catalina and macOS Big Sur 11
• Play PC games and run demanding graphics software
• Work with Windows-based accounting and trading software
• Run all your favorite Windows software on your Mac, MacBook, or iMac!

Over 7 Million Users and Praised by Experts

“It’s always been astonishing that it’s faster to start up a Parallels PC than a real one. On my MacBook Air, I’m up and running in Windows six seconds after I double-click the Parallels icon.”David Pogue, The New York Times

“Of all the ways to run Windows on a Mac, Parallels Desktop is my favorite because it just works. It’s fast, it’s reliable, and there’s no need to futz about with confusing setting or convoluted setup processes.”Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, ZDNet

“Unlike Apple’s Boot Camp, Parallels lets you run both operating systems at the same time.”Larry Magid, Forbes

”Parallels Desktop is the easiest, fastest, and most tightly integrated app for running Windows apps or the Windows desktop in Apple OS X.”Edward Mendelson, PCMag.com

“The latest version of Parallels, the popular Windows virtualization tool for Mac OS X, almost feels like its trolling Apple.”Engadget

“The software has been iterating over a decade and now makes Windows feel like part of the macOS. You can also virtualize Linux, Android, and just about anything that runs on Intel chips including another instance of macOS—great for testing macOS Betas!”9to5Mac

Fast, Powerful and Easy

Whether you need to run Windows programs that don’t have Mac versions, or you are making the switch from PC to Mac and need to transfer your data, Parallels Desktop has you covered.

In this video, you’ll find the playback speed has increased. The video shows a typical experience on a Mac powered by the Intel processor. Information on the M1 experience may be found in this article.

Parallels Desktop for Mac Features

Ultimate Flexibility

Touch Bar

Works with Boot Camp

One-Click Tuning

• Office 365 Integration
  Allows Word, Excel, or PowerPoint documents in Safari to open in their native Windows Office app.
• Works with Boot Camp
  Reuse your existing Boot Camp installation. Converting a virtual machine from Boot Camp is easy, just follow our installation assistant at startup.
• Retina Display Support
  Smart resizing and independent screen resolutions for separate displays.
• One-Click Tuning
  Select productivity, games, design, software testing, or development and Parallels Desktop will optimize your VM settings and performance for you.
• Instant Access
  Launch and access Windows applications right from the Mac Dock.

• Save Disk Space
  Get the most out of your Mac with automatic Disk Space optimization.
• Volume License Key
  Unified volume license key, centralized license management and advanced security features are available in Parallels Desktop Business Edition.
• Travel Mode
  Extend battery life while away from a power source.
• Parallels ToolboxBonus with Subscription!
  Over 30 one-touch tools—clean your drive, take screenshots, download a video and more—all with just a single click.
• Remote AccessBonus with Subscription!
  Remote access to your Mac from any iOS device, Android device or browser with Parallels Access ® .
• 24/7 Support
  Premium 24/7 phone, email and social support after activation.

• Share Mac applications with Windows
• Automatic resolution change
• Single cloud storage space between Mac and Windows
• Drag and drop files between Mac and Windows
• Copy and paste files or text between Mac and Windows
• Launch Windows applications right from the Dock
• Move your PC to Mac in a few easy steps
• Assign any USB devices to your Mac or Windows
• Retina display support for Windows
• Volume control synchronization
• Open any site in Microsoft Explorer right from Safari ® browser
• Apply macOS Parental Control to Windows applications
• Windows alerts in Mac Notification Center
• Mac dictation inside Windows applications
• See the number of unread emails in the Dock
• “Reveal in Windows Explorer” in macOS files menu
• Virtual machine encryption
• Linked clones for VMs*
• Vagrant provider*
• 32 vCPUs and 128 GB vRAM*
• Nested virtualization for Linux*
• Drag and drop files in macOS guests
• Real-time virtual disk optimization
• Create VM from VHD and VMDK disks*
• Drag and drop to create VM
• Disk Space Wizard optimizes your disk space
• Shared folders and printers for Linux VMs
• Windows applications in Launchpad
• Power Nap in Windows
• Use Force Touch to look up definitions
• New virtual machine wizard
• Mission Control support
• Presentation Wizard prevents most projector issues
• Drop files onto Outlook to create a new message
• Multi-language keyboard sync
• Picture-in-Picture view

• Share Bluetooth between Mac and Windows
• macOS guest support
• Spaces functionality for Windows applications
• Mission Control exposes your Windows applications
• DirectX support
• Thunderbolt support
• Licensing portal*
• Firewire support
• USB-C and USB 3.0 support
• Work without risk with Snapshots
• Safeguard your VM with encryption
• 2 GB video memory support
• Finder tabs work with Windows applications
• AVX512 instruction set support
• Mojave support
• Disk usage optimizations
• Report disk space left on Mac
• Express installation of Windows 10
• Native Mojave screenshots
• Auto allocation of video memory
• “Free Up Disk Space” wizard
• Free OS downloads
• Coherence for external displays
• Continuity camera support
• Touch Bar support
• Shared smart card reader
• Multi-monitor support
• 4K shared camera support
• CPU usage indicator
• Mojave Quick Look support
• Pressure sensitivity support
• Resource usage monitor
• OpenGL support
• Offer to import Boot Camp
• Auto-detect games keyboard
• And many more…

*Available with Parallels Desktop Pro Edition and Business Edition subscriptions

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Parallels Desktop work?

To add Windows, Linux, or another operating system to your Mac, Parallels Desktop creates a virtual machine (VM)—a virtual PC inside your Mac. You can then install Windows on the virtual machine, just as you would install any operating system on a regular computer. Run multiple OSs at the same time, all on your Mac. It’s like two computers in one!

What can I do with Parallels Desktop?

• Open Windows applications side by side with your macOS applications, without having to restart your Mac
• Copy and paste text or drag and drop objects between Mac and Windows.
• Run Windows games and other 3D applications.
• Transfer all your data from a PC and use it on your Mac.*
• Easily share files, devices, and other resources between Windows and Mac.
• Install other operating systems, such as versions of Windows, Linux, another copy of macOS* and free virtual appliances—and use them together.
• And much more…

How do I get Windows?

There are several ways to install Windows (or any other operating system) in a virtual machine, and Parallels Desktop makes it easy to get started within minutes.

On Intel-powered Mac computers it is simple to install Windows. Just follow our Installation Assistant and click “Install Windows.” On Apple M1 chip-powered Mac computers you can install Windows by following the instructions in this article.

You can provide your own Microsoft Windows license key, purchase Windows directly from within Parallels Desktop, or transfer an existing Boot Camp partition with Windows already installed.

This screenshot illustrates the installation experience on an Intel-powered Mac and there is a separate article with installation information for the Apple M1 chip-powered Mac.

Transfer is only available for Intel-powered Mac and PC

What if I’m already using Boot Camp?

With Parallels Desktop, you can switch between Mac and Windows without ever needing to reboot your computer.

If you have already installed Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, or Windows 7 on your Mac using Boot Camp, you can set Parallels Desktop to run Windows from the Boot Camp Partition or import Windows and your data from Boot Camp into Parallels Desktop as a new virtual machine.

To use Windows from Boot Camp, install Parallels Desktop and follow the Installation Assistant.

How do I play Windows games on Mac?

Play your Windows-only game on a Mac using Parallels Desktop. Parallels Desktop even has a virtual machine setting dedicated to gaming to optimize performance. With ongoing support for DirectX and OpenGL, many popular games and game engines are supported within Parallels Desktop. Download a free 14-day trial of Parallels Desktop and see if your desired game is supported.

What are the system requirements for Parallels Desktop?

What if I need multiple licenses and license management?

Need Parallels Desktop for your team? Check out Parallels Desktop Business Edition.

Do you have educational pricing for students or faculty?

Parallels offers exclusive discounts for educational students currently enrolled in a qualified educational institution or professional educators who are currently employed. Educational discounts can save users up to 50% off by verifying their eligibility.

What is Parallels Desktop Pro Edition?

Parallels Desktop Pro Edition is packed with extra features, including: