Recs for Mac games on Steam

[alias_sqbr]

After some effort (it required a reinstall, me logging into the website, and then both of us logging in on both machines and doing the right settings) we got "family sharing" working on Steam so I can play all of Cam's mac compatible games on my laptop.

Thus, a collection of recs! All the plotty ones have happy endings unless otherwise stated.

• Analogue: A Hate Story A confronting and affecting visual novel untangling a tragedy. The "white American explores sexism using Korean culture" premise is a bit unfortunate but it's very good for what it is. Also has two gxg endings.
  
• Bastion Beautiful isometric action game about rebuilding and hope after apocalypse. Not fantastically suited to laptop play.
  
• Bejeweled 3 Untimed casual gem matching game. I prefer Bejeweled 2 but this is what I have.
  
• Bookworm Deluxe Untimed casual word finding game.
  
• Broken Age Beautiful and funny puzzle/adventure game, one of the two protagonists is a brown girl fighting against stuff. Ends on a cliff hanger while we wait for the second half!
  
• Cinders Beautiful and well written visual novel/dating sim retelling of Cinderella. Very heterosexual but gives the "ugly" sisters and stepmother more complex characterisation.
  
• Crayon Physics Deluxe Flawed but interesting puzzle game where you draw objects to solve puzzles using physics (falling weights, pendulums, ramps etc) The physics engine is a bit frustrating but it's relatively easy to kludge your way through and I enjoyed playing around with it.
  
• Dear Esther Beautiful and melancholy walk-around visual novel(*) about death and loss. Not a happy story but immersive and interesting.
  
• Escape Rosecliff Island Hidden object puzzle game. Haven't finished this yet but am enjoying it for mindless time wasting. Has a timer but you can turn it off.
  
• Gone Home Another walk-around visual novel, you play a woman who comes back from a trip and explores her empty family home figuring out what's been going on in everyone's lives. Surprisingly affecting lgbt subplot. Detailed and immersive setting.
  
• Long Live the Queen Fiendishly difficult but fun raising sim, where you make choices for a new queen and try not to have her die (or at least hit all the death options). Has gxg options though I never made it that far.
  
• Magical Diary Super fun and surprisingly well written visual novel/dating sim/life sim where you play a new girl at not!Hogwarts. Has cute gxg options.
  
• Portal and Portal 2 Awesome portal based puzzle games, clever puzzles and really well written with a great dark sense of humour. Female main character too.
  
• RealMyst: Masterpiece Edition Walk around version of the classic puzzle game (with a slideshow version if you prefer). Graphics are dated but the worlds are still very atmospheric and the puzzles are great. What little acting there is is bad since it's the developers but mostly you just walk around looking at stuff.
  
• RUSH A nice little puzzle game using directional arrows to direct streams of coloured cubes. I am not very good at it.
  
• SpaceChem Clever puzzle game where you have to create paths for atoms to follow so they become the right molecules. More computer science than chemistry, gets into some pretty complicated finite state machines.
  
• The Stanley Parable Funny walk around visual novel where you can spite the narrator in lots of different ways and see what happens.
  
• Worms Reloaded Stategy game where you try and blow up the other team with various cute weapons. Haven't played this in years but I remember enjoying it.
  
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Ollld Bioware RPG. I found this too annoying to play on the laptop and then lost my save, but based on where I got up to it's pretty good.
  

Haven't really played but have been recced:

• Papers Please You're an immigration clerk?
  
• The Longest Journey Some sort of fantasy/scifi thing?
  
• Torchlight Run of the mill isometric fantasy RPG. Haven't played a lot of this but have been recced it a lot and it was kind of fun.
  
• Trine Another fantasy RPG I have been recced, was ok based on a very short play.
  

Also I'd probably rec Halflife, Tomb Raider and Thomas was Alone were it not for the zombies and/or platform jumping.

(*)I'm not sure what you call this genre. It's like a first person shooter (a couple started as FPS mods) in that you walk around a 3D landscape that renders in realtime, but the gameplay is like a visual novel or puzzle game in that you just walk around and click on stuff/make choices. If I have any other genre names wrong please let me know!

Comments

[thedeadparrot]

I've been making my way through Papers Please, seeing if I can get different endings. Can definitely recommend it as it is both weirdly soothing and anxiety inducing all at the same time.

Based on your list, I'd probably also recommend Kentucky Route Zero as well, though -- like Broken Age -- it is sadly unfinished at this time.

[alias_sqbr]

Thanks! I've been more in a casual mindless clicking mood lately but will definitely check Papers Please out when I'm feeling more thinky.