Support for games on Mac can be pretty patchy. While we tend to accept this as a given for AAAs, there’s more of an expectation for indies to be available. There are one or two exceptions, though. Try playing Animal Well, Outer Wilds, or Death’s Door, and you’ll be out of luck.
Here are the best indie games for macOS, all of which can be bought on Steam.
11
Celeste
This precision platforming game features many punishing levels, with even more difficult bonus content for those who reach the end wanting more. Celeste was the work of a tiny development team, led by Madeline Thorson whose name inspired the main character, Maddy.
Using wall climb, dash, and other situational powers, your task is to climb a mountain screen-by-screen, picking up hidden strawberries along the way. Things quickly get much more punishing, though, with moving platforms, hazards aplenty, and a particularly sinister alter-ego who chases you relentlessly. That doppelgänger contains a mystery of their own too…
Celeste famously began as a PICO-8 game, and you can still play the original prototype for free today.
10
Stardew Valley
A solo effort, Stardew Valley was designed, developed, and published by Eric Barone (ConcernedApe) and released on Mac in 2016. Since then, free updates have continued, and the game has developed a large, loyal following in the indie game community. No doubt the cozy vibes and open-ended gameplay contribute to the relaxed, easy-going culture of Stardew Valley on-screen and off.
Leaving corporate life behind to chase the dream of reviving your grandfather’s farm, you’ll meet a host of engaging characters as you go about tending to your crops. The townspeople will show you the ropes, and gladly accept gifts in return; who knows, one day you may even end up marrying one of them.
Stardew Valley works great with a keyboard and mouse, and it shines on a big screen you can hunker down in front of to get absorbed for hours on end. The game has continued to receive large, free updates for almost ten years, and the reasonable price tag makes it an absolute bargain.
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9
The Stanley Parable
Maybe the most unusual of these indie classics, The Stanley Parable is more of an experience than a game—but what an experience. The first thing that strikes you is the narrator. With wonderful voice acting, a disembodied British accent comments on your every move until, unnervingly, it starts predicting the future.
Whether you treat these utterances as commands to obey or distractions to ignore, you’ll soon find yourself moving down one path of many, with further decisions forking to alternative outcomes. Finishing the game is more about discovering as many endings as possible, than reaching any specific one.
Nowadays, this classic often gets unfairly bundled in with other “walking sim” imitators, but make no mistake: this is a true original.
8
Spiritfarer
A rare game that was playable on Mac at launch, this 2020 management sim may look cozy and simplistic on the surface, but there’s more than meets the eye to it. Spiritfarer casts you as Stella, a ferrymaster for souls on their way to the afterlife.
The gameplay involves resource-gathering, crafting, and upgrading your transport from a small boat to a ship of gigantic proportions. Events are highly narrative, and each character has a unique and engaging backstory to uncover.
There are light platforming elements, but the game focuses on exploration, inventory management, and its excellent storyline. Make sure you bring a handkerchief, though; some of these spirits’ tales are highly moving.
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7
Super Meat Boy
As the oldest game on this list, Super Meat Boy may qualify as the hit that kickstarted a revolution in indie gaming. It certainly helped to popularize the masocore genre (“masochism” and “hardcore”) and spawned a wealth of imitators looking to recreate the fast-paced, tough-as-nails, rinse-and-repeat action. You can blame this game for many of the hardest Super Mario Maker levels!
At its core, Super Meat Boy is a platformer, but you can already sense that there’s something a bit different on offer here from the title alone. A handful of bizarre characters and crazed environments combine with twisted, retro visuals to lend a decidedly light-hearted nature to proceedings. The greasy, meaty trail your body leaves behind will only add to your joy—or disgust.
Super Meat Boy’s levels progress slowly at first, enough to get you hooked on the frantic action. You could be tempted to give up later as the difficulty really ramps up, but if you enjoy repeatedly honing your muscle memory until a glorious payout, with a side-order of quirky humor, you’ll be right at home.
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6
Papers Please
Sometimes it feels as if every game that could ever be made has been done already. Then, along comes an immigration-check simulator to confound expectations.
Yes, in 2013’s Papers Please, your task really is to inspect passports, pour over documents, and decide who gets to enter your fictional home of Arstotzka. The puzzle mechanics at the center of this game get progressively trickier, but it’s the moral decisions you’ll make, and their impact on proceedings, that will live in your memory long after the action’s over.
You can even play a free LCD demake of the game on itch.io, to get an idea of what it’s all about. But, make no mistake, the full game has a lot more depth, in every sense of the word.
5
Baba Is You
Possibly the cleverest, most mind-bending puzzle you’ll ever play. Baba Is You starts off looking like any other sokoban-like: push blocks around, clear your path of obstructions, and get to the flag. Then you notice some of those blocks are words and three of them together make up phrases like “Flag Is Win” or “Wall Is Push.” All of a sudden, you’re rearranging the rules of the game as you play it, and nothing is as it seems at first glance.
Baba Is You is a stunning achievement for a solo dev. The creator, Arvi Teikari, was responsible for programming, graphics, and music.
Simple turn-based games like this are perfect for porting, and the system requirements are basic enough that even older Macs should have no problem running the game. But, despite its simplicity, Baba Is You is a challenging and rewarding experience, with enough levels and hidden secrets to keep you going for a very long time.
4
Balatro
The 2024 breakout hit card roguelike was released on Mac just a week after other platforms, which was about enough time for Windows and console players to develop a serious addiction. Since then, it’s become a gaming phenomenon.
The main aim is simply to score an ever-increasing number of points, progressing from 300 to tens of thousands. You’ll play basic poker hands, but a variety of bonuses boost your score by repeating plays, adding multipliers, or giving you money to spend in the shop. The real stars of the show are the game’s joker cards, which radically alter the scoring rules and can combine to send your score into the stratosphere.
Created—mainly—by a single developer, LocalThunk, Balatro is an archetypal indie success: simple graphics, minimal production values, outstanding gameplay, and great value for money. It’s as easy to pick up and play the first time as it is every other day afterward.
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3
Wilmot’s Warehouse
Wilmot’s Warehouse is a perfect demonstration of indie games’ tendency to innovate with experimental gameplay atop a basic, approachable design. Your character is little more than a square with a face, while the commodities you’ll haul around the titular warehouse are basic abstract shapes. But this game goes to show that even stock-taking and shelf-stacking can be fun in the right setting.
Each turn, new crates arrive in one phase, and customers demand a selection of them in the next. Your ability to fulfill these orders entirely depends on how well you’ve chosen to organize things in the first phase. Group by color, shape, or function but, whatever you do, make sure you understand your own system or chaos will ensue!
Wilmot’s Warehouse has a very different sequel, Wilmot Works It Out, which uses a similar framework to present a much more relaxing jigsaw-style game. So, whether you like things cozy or frenetic, there’s a Wilmot experience that’s perfect for you.
2
Fez
Famously featured in Indie Game: The Movie, with designer Phil Fish enjoying a starring role, Fez saw its fair share of controversies with Twitter spats, a canceled sequel, and even a few criticisms of its gameplay. But Fez remains a game well worth playing for its spectacular visuals, challenging exploration, and obscure side-quests. There’s an entire fictional language hiding here if you’re clever enough to decode it!
The game is a traditional 2D platformer in many ways, but its twist lies in the rotation you can apply at any time to explore the world from another angle. Platforms fly around the screen and new routes open up, sometimes requiring you to jump and react in mid-rotation.
Much of the appeal here revolves around the presentation, with a colorful and vibrant update to traditional pixel graphics. The game’s map is a work of art in itself, reusing the same rotation mechanics as the main game and showing every level, interconnected in one giant diagram.