Top 10 Best Games for Mac OS X

Here's a roundup of some of the most popular games that are now available for OS X. Top 10 Best Games for Mac OS X. It used to be that Mac users were a relatively small group, mostly composed of A/V nerds and graphic designers. And while these disciplines still account for a large portion of Mac people, Apple has gained quite a good deal more of the market in recent years. However, the world of non-console gaming doesn't quite reflect this change yet, as evidenced by the fact that the term "PC gaming" is still generally the preferred nomenclature.


However, this is slowly changing. The days of attempting to play PC-only titles in a virtual machine are (thankfully) starting to be a thing of the past. Quite a few titles have been ported over to OS X in the past year or so, and it looks as though more and more developers are starting to realize that not every PC gamer necessarily wants to be a Windows gamer. Here's a roundup of some of the most popular titles that are now available for OS X.

1.Torchlight 

Like a prettier, smaller version of "Diablo II", this action RPG manages to take most of the good aspects of overhead hack and slash games and add a few original touches which make it fairly addictive. Play as a member of one of three character classes who is tasked by Syl, a sage who has lost her mentor, Alric somewhere in a mine beneath the city of Torchlight. The mine is filled with Ember, a substance which is known to imbue both objects and people with magical abilities, but also corrupts the minds of any living creatures with whom it comes into contact for prolonged periods.
Further still beneath the mines are ruined palaces, hanging gardens and other stranger labyrinths filled with monsters and loot. The player is accompanied by a pet in the form of a cat or dog who can carry extra items, aid in fights, heal, and sell off unwanted treasure without the player having to port back into town. While it's not the most nuanced plot of all time, this game is more than an adequate substitute for those who can no longer hold their breath waiting for Blizzard to release "Diablo III".

2.Amnesia: The Dark Descent 

Few games can reduce a grown man to whimpers and tears. This game is one of them.
At the start of the game, the main character awakens in what appears to be the entryway of a castle with no clue as to his identity. He soon finds a note from himself, which reveals that his name is Daniel and that he has forced himself to forget the circumstances under which he arrived at the castle. The note also warns him that he is being hunted by a "shadow". Thus begins Daniel's descent into the castle (and- dun dun DUN- The Darkness), where he must discover, via a series of flashbacks, just what the hell is going on, and how to stop it.  "Amnesia" is all from the first person perspective, though to call it a "shooter" would be misleading, since Daniel cannot actually fight anything. He must stay within areas of light in order to remain sane, and can collect tinderboxes and oil for his lantern. However, he can't stay in the light all the time, or else he will be seen. And if he is seen, he will be attacked. Even if he can't see what's attacking him.

3.Portal 

Originally bundled in Valve's 2007 Orange Box for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3, this first person puzzle-platformer was intended to be a small bonus game. However, it ended up being so wildly popular that it was ported to OS X and released in May of 2010 via Steam. In a series of jump, gravity and timing puzzles with teleportation as the main mechanic of gameplay, the player (who we eventually learn is a woman named Chell) must overcome increasingly difficult test chamber scenarios at an Aperture Science research facility. Chell is at first guided and then taunted by an AI named GLaDOS, who promises "cake and grief counseling" should Chell complete the experiment satisfactorily. With the impending release of "Portal 2", this game is a must-play for pretty much everyone, and since it's available on almost every conceivable platform besides the Wii, there's no excuse not to give it a shot.

4.World of Goo 

This physics-based puzzle game may seem sickeningly cute and simplistic at first, but it's actually quite engaging after the first few levels. Guided by the mysterious Sign Painter, the player must use balls of goo to build structures in order to reach a pipe, which then collects the goo balls. A minimum amount of goo balls must be collected in order to pass the level, and gradually, obstacles and additional building elements (such as balloons to help support horizontal structures) must be utilized. However, as the levels become increasingly difficult, the player begins to question the origin of the goo balls, and the purpose in collecting them, and this is where the game's plot development kicks into full swing.

5.Machinarium 

Diminutive robot protagonist Josef finds himself in what appears to be a junkyard. After a brief tutorial in which actions and abilities are demonstrated, it is made clear through a few cartoonish flashbacks that some bad robots wearing black hats kidnapped Josef's girlfriend, and strong-armed the little robot himself out of the robot city. Josef then proceeds to re-enter the robot city in pursuit of his lost girlfriend, only to discover that the Black Cap Brotherhood has planted a bomb in the robot city. Josef must then solve a series of extremely creative visual puzzles in order to free his lady, disarm the bomb, and save the city. The soundtrack is particularly amazing, the artwork is charming, but "Machinarium" is the sort of experience that cannot really be described in any way that will do it proper justice. Just play the game.

6.Bioshock 

Filled with dieselpunk eye candy and tough moral decisions, this eponymous first chapter of the "Bioshock" series is basically a big middle finger in the collective face of Ayn Rand enthusiasts, proving to many doubters outside the gaming subculture that videogames could be more than just mindless gore-fests.
The player assumes the role of Jack, who has come upon the fallen underwater city of Rapture, built by uber-capitalist businessman Andrew Ryan. Due to an increasing discrepancy between the rich and the poor, and human dependence upon a substance known as ADAM, Rapture has suffered a catastrophic revolt. Jack has survived a plane crash over the Atlantic Ocean only to find his way under the surface to Rapture, guided by a man named Atlas. Jack must then make his way through the city, encountering Little Sisters, the carriers of the ADAM, and Big Daddies, the guardians of the Little Sisters. Throughout a series of quests, the truth is slowly revealed to be even stranger than the initial setup.

7.Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty 

This sequel was a long time coming. Thankfully, it shipped for PC and OS X at the same time. The story picks up four years after the events of the original Starcraft, and follows an insurgent group attempting to make its way across the Terran Dominion. Non-linear gameplay with regard to the campaigns keeps the game interesting, and is a minor departure from the original. However, the order in which the campaigns are done will not interrupt the narrative.
Units remain largely the same, with some additional specialized units available only for campaign play and not in regular multi-player, such as the Terran Wraith, Vulture, and Diamondback. There is also a map editor, similar to the original StarEdit, which allows for customization of terrain and campaigns.

8.Angry Birds 

It's a dark day on the farm. The pigs, in an act of flagrant disrespect, have stolen the birds' eggs, and are proceeding to hold them hostage in a complicated, but rudimentary fort, made of flimsy wood, stone, glass, and other random junkyard items. Normally, if one were to need to gain access to a house that a pig built, one would call in a Big Bad Wolf. Not these birds, though. These birds are angry. And they have a slingshot.
Each bird has a special ability when launched from the slingshot. Some accelerate forward very quickly, some split apart like shrapnel, but all of the birds have the same goal: Take out the fort, and the pigs in the process. When all the oinkers have been hit, the birds have won. For now.

9.Braid 

In this puzzle platformer from developer Jonathan Blow, the player takes on the role of Tim, a suit and tie-wearing man who is maneuvering his way through physical traps and puzzles in order to rescue a princess who has apparently been abducted by some kind of monster.
However, as the story unfolds, more background information on Tim and the Princess comes to light, and all is not what it seems. Tim must also collect stars and pieces of jigsaw puzzles, which when fully assembled reveal scenes that provide hints as to the nature of the relationship between himself and the princess. Though "Braid" looks like a series of watercolor paintings, and some of the gameplay mechanics are a bit cute (using monsters as springboards from which to jump higher, and being able to shift time forwards backwards), make no mistake: "Braid" is one hell of a dark game. And though it can be interpreted in a number of ways, the ending is positively haunting.

10.Left 4 Dead series 

Though both of these titles have been out for a few years now, they were only ported to OS X and made available through Steam just last fall, to the enjoyment of all. There are obviously a plethora of zombie-related games out there, and no one would blame a person for being sick and tired of all the lurching and shambling. However, both of the Left 4 Dead games are particularly intriguing in that the co-op mode doesn't just involve playing together, or helping each other out. In certain instances, a player actually needs his or her co-players, like when the player respawns in a locked closet, or needs healing but is not carrying any form of medicine. Teammates can bring one another back from the brink of death with a defibrillator or lure the infected away from other teammates with a pipe bomb. So basically, short of a space virus that actually causes the zombocalypse to happen, this is probably the most realistic simulations available in terms of the need for teamwork. Even though the likelihood of magically finding guns and defibrillators lying around in real life is kinda dubious.