10 Classic Free Games for Mac
Haha Billy Mitchell, the classic arcade gamer (see the movie ‘The King of Kong‘ for more on Billy). Sure you can grab something like MacMAME to play exact copies of retro arcade classics, what about playing some of these classic retro and arcade games natively in OS X? You know the games, the games you grew up playing. Pac-Man, Minesweeper, Asteroids, Tetris. They’re all classics in the computer gaming world and we want them on our Mac.
But when you look for the free games that came with your Mac, (as they do on Windows) you’re only going to find Chess. Sure, Chess is great, but sometimes you just need to play the classics to feel at home on a Mac.
While I can’t provide you with the original classics, there are some really good clones of those classic games out for the Mac. So, ready to get your game on? Here are 10 classic (and free!) games you can start playing right now.
Chess
OS X’s only game
The only game to ship with Mac OS X is Chess. Technically, it’s more classy than any of the other games here, so I figured I’d mention it. Apple makes a fine virtual version of a real-life game, but I admit I’ve only opened up this game once or twice. It’s not exactly the most popular app that comes with your Mac.
Pac the Man X
Pac-Man and Mrs. Pac-Man clone
Probably one of the best clones of a classic game, Pac the Man X gives the classic Pac-Man and Mrs. Pac-Man games a retro, and yet new feel at the same time. Somehow, this game brings back memories that I’m too young to have, memories of playing this game in an arcade when I was 8. It’s that good.
Mine Swept
Minesweeper clone
Mine Swept is an almost perfect Minesweeper clone. It plays just like the original game, although it brings the addition of sound effects and a slightly enhanced interface. Still, Minesweeper is probably the most boring “classic” game so there’s not much really going on here. For something a little bit more interesting, be sure to check out Minesweeper: The Movie.
Solitaire XL
Solitaire clone
Solitaire XL brings Solitaire to the Mac with style and an integrated Mac look. The cards don’t appear in a window, but instead float above your desktop. But beware, you’ll have a hard time seeing the cards clearly if you have any other open windows behind it. For more, see Gerald’s post on Solitaire XL.
Maelstrom
Asteroids clone
Maelstrom plays just like the original Asteroids – only in color. The gameplay feels exactly the same as the original, though; from the cringe you feel when your ship slides off screen, to the satisfaction when you blow up the aliens. The only downside is that it’s not a Universal Binary, so it won’t be running at its best on Intel Macs.
LBreakout 2
Breakout clone
Simple ‘n basic breakout game. Use your keyboard or your mouse. The game plays as you would expect, but the graphics could use some tweaking. They’re a little overdone, and not incredibly eye-pleasing. This is a solid game, nonetheless. Not a Universal Binary.
Quinn
Tetris clone
There was no way I could leave this one out. Quinn is well known as the best Tetris clone for the Mac. It integrates extremely well with OS X, it’s graphics are beautiful, and the game is addicting. It’s the best take on Tetris I’ve played. For more, see Henry’s previous post.
Otis
SameGame clone
Otis is a modern take on the original “SameGame.” In it, the player clicks on groups of same-colored blocks or circles, therefore vaporizing them to make room for the others. The objective is to end up with zero blocks, having successfully grouped each color together long enough to vaporize them.
Alien Abduction
Defender clone
Alien Abduction is a loose clone of the classic Defender side-scrolling game, which I guess is retro Arcade game, but here it is anyways. It’s been duplicated many times but Alien Abduction paces out everything very well so that you never get too bored or overwhelmed. Also not a Universal Binary.
Shooter in the Abstract
Oddly addictive game
Alright, this one isn’t a classic, but it’s up there with Pac-Man and Tetris in fun-ness. The premise is simple: Your mouse controls a triangle that periodically shoots out towards the floating baddies around you. The only thing is, you can’t crash into the baddies. Fun power-ups and solid pacing make up for the lackluster graphics.
That wraps up my list of 10 classic games for the Mac. I purposefully stuck to freeware for this post because I really don’t expect for people to pay money for such small games. But they’re still solid, fun games that are always a great time to play. Do you know of any others that I left out? What are they?
[...] 10 Classic Free <b>Games</b> for Mac [...]
Mindquirk (the guys that make harmonic) had a great Minesweeper clone, but it seems to have been removed from their site.
hey – you forgot maciago – the free othello/reversi game!
[...] anderen sechs Klassiker findet ihr hier bei Mac Apper in aller Kürze vorgestellt – allerdings auf Englisch. Ob schon alle Programme auf [...]
[...] sourced here [...]
What happened to the article?
lol, Bruce
@Bruce: It’s back…Sorry about that, not sure what happened :/
Also, if anyone wants to get reeeaaally retro check out this Mac abondonware site.
Just a bit off topic, but has anyone noticed that chess is a 64-bit program? I found it pretty interesting; not sure as to why it would need such a large resource space (it also allocates 2.9 Gb of virtual memory), as it seemingly looks untouched from the former 32-bit chess.app.
Here is a big list of free open source games.
http://fossgamer.110mb.com/index.html
[...] * Be sure to also see our article on free games for Mac. [...]
MAELSTROM rules!
The best Macintosh-game ever. OS 9-OSX (ppc)
Developer Andrew Welsh (?) once was asked if he would port the game to Windows. He answered something like “no, I prefer to keep this one for Mac-users only
[...] over it tonight and I thought I’d share. Shooter in the Abstract is apparently one of the 10 Classic Free Games for Mac. [...]
The Chess game that comes with Mac seems to lock up often resulting in an inability to complete the game.
[...] I found a site on Digg the other day with 10 free classic Mac games for download. the only ones I was interested in was Minesweeper and Solitaire, which reminded me of Windows 1995. They are great though! the Solitaire especially is a very Mac-like layout and gameplay with smooth animation and a nice layout. Check them out at MacApper. [...]
I’m incredibly surprised that the Marathon series hasn’t made it. They’re fantastic FPS games that came out originally for Macs.
http://source.bungie.org
hey,why mac game always have to buy first?
can not be free so everybody can play it…
iam just asking…
thx
All the games here (except for maybe one) are free.
[...] &39The King of Kong&39 for more on Billy. Sure you can grab something like MacMAME to play exact …http://macapper.com/2007/11/08/10-classic-free-games-for-mac/mac games and more – free mac games and mac software shareware …free mac games mac software apple [...]
What about those board games that turned to computer games. Like “The Game Of Life” or “Monopoly”
[...] * Be sure to also see our article on free games for Mac. [...]
There are some free iphone games.
http://www.applemacvideo.com/articles/free-iphone-game.html#126
Pacman…
On Mac? Going to try it out now.
all these fuc*** games are a big pile of sh**
How about Digg Dugg, Tutankhamen or Galaga ?
Would love to see those retro games again…
anyone remember an old 80’s mac game in which you’re a detective in the 1930’s trying to solve your own/a murder, point and click room escape style?
Fitzdevlin, that game is an alltime favorite of mine and I can’t even remember the name. One of the best stories ever written in gaming history. I’ve got it somewhere on CD-ROM but I’ll have to look for it. It came bundled with my PowerPC Performa.
The b/w 1930’s-esque private eye game I remember where you wake up in a bathroom stall with amnesia in a casino, was called Deja VU. It was a hypercard style game. I loved it.