Desktop engines
RPG Maker, Ren’Py, Godot, GameMaker, Unity and the other engines on this page are behind a large share of indie games, and each one has a native macOS runtime. A game’s Windows release can therefore usually run on a Mac without WINE: MacLauncher pairs the game’s data with the right engine build, and the game behaves like a Mac app.
Each section below covers one game type, or a few closely related ones, and says what to expect. The linked guides describe every format and setting.
Web games
Section titled “Web games”Many games are web apps in a box. RPG Maker MV and MZ, Construct 2 and 3, TyranoBuilder and TyranoScript, and GameMaker’s HTML5 export all produce HTML and JavaScript, and a Windows release wraps that in a Windows copy of a browser engine. MacLauncher recognizes each of these as its own game type: RPG Maker MV, RPG Maker MZ, Construct, Tyrano and GameMaker HTML5. The Web game type covers any other HTML game.
All of them run in the same hosts: Electron, which is included with the app, so there’s nothing to download, or NW.js, whose versions are downloaded on demand. There’s also NW.js (Patched), which uses the same NW.js versions and adds a patch layer with optional compatibility settings; GameMaker HTML5 doesn’t offer it. RPG Maker MV and MZ games use NW.js (Patched) when an NW.js version is installed, and Electron otherwise. Most of these games work well in either host. RPG Maker MV and MZ games also get a structured save editor and cheats; see Saves and cheats.
Example games: OMORI (RPG Maker MV).
Guides: RPG Maker MV and MZ, Construct, Tyrano, GameMaker HTML5, Web, Web runtimes
RPG Maker XP, VX and VX Ace
Section titled “RPG Maker XP, VX and VX Ace”The Ruby-based RPG Makers run on MKXP-Z, an open-source reimplementation of the RPG Maker player. MacLauncher offers its own MKXP-Z builds, which add fixes for Unicode file names, as well as upstream builds. It also handles the RPG Maker RTP, the shared asset packs that many games expect, and downloads the official pack when a game needs it. Encrypted archives can be extracted, and the Ruby scripts can be exported and repacked.
Example games: To the Moon and OneShot (XP), The Witch’s House (VX).
Guide: RPG Maker XP/VX/VX Ace
RPG Maker 2000/2003
Section titled “RPG Maker 2000/2003”The older RPG Makers run on EasyRPG Player, a mature open-source reimplementation of the RPG Maker 2000/2003 engine. MacLauncher can also export a game’s database, maps and dialogue as JSON or text, for example for translation.
Example games: Yume Nikki and Ib.
Guide: RPG Maker 2000/2003
WOLF RPG Editor
Section titled “WOLF RPG Editor”WOLF RPG Editor games run on Browser Woditor, a browser port of the engine. MacLauncher converts archives that use the standard WOLF encryption into a form Browser Woditor can read, without changing the original files. Games that use Windows-specific system functions, native DLLs, WOLF RPG Pro features or MP4 video can run in Sikarugir or CrossOver instead.
Example games: Mad Father.
Guide: WOLF RPG Editor
Ren’Py
Section titled “Ren’Py”Ren’Py visual novels run on the matching Ren’Py SDK for macOS. MacLauncher reads which Python generation and Ren’Py version a game was built with and picks a compatible SDK. The other runtime, Ren’Py Patch, copies the macOS runtime files from the matching SDK into the game instead. Ren’Py has its own toolbox too: RPA archive extraction, script decompilation, a developer console and cheat add-ons.
Example games: Slay the Princess, Doki Doki Literature Club!, Katawa Shoujo.
Guide: Ren’Py
Godot games run on the official macOS engine of the same version. That matters, because a project made with one Godot version often won’t load in another (4.5 and 4.6, for example). MacLauncher detects the version from the game, and it also chooses between Godot’s two builds of each version. A game written in C# needs the .NET build and gets it automatically; other games use the Standard build, or the .NET build when only that one is installed. The inspector’s Variant menu shows which build a game will use and can change it.
Example games: Brotato, Dome Keeper, Cassette Beasts, Buckshot Roulette.
Guide: Godot
GameMaker
Section titled “GameMaker”GameMaker has a few generations, and each uses a different runtime. GameMaker Studio games, such as UNDERTALE, run on Butterscotch, an open-source runner and the default, or on the official GameMaker runners at the exact version the game needs. Classic GameMaker 8.0 and 8.1 games run on MacLauncher’s macOS port of OpenGMK, the only way to play them natively on a Mac. HTML5 exports are a separate game type, GameMaker HTML5, and run like the other web games.
Example games: UNDERTALE, Hyper Light Drifter and Hotline Miami (GameMaker Studio); the original freeware Spelunky (classic GameMaker).
Guide: GameMaker
Unity games use one of two scripting backends, and the backend decides how a game can run on a Mac. Mono games ship their code as .NET assemblies, and MacLauncher can run them on the macOS Unity player of the exact version they were built with. Many work well, but games that rely on Windows-specific libraries, or that ship only Direct3D shaders, won’t. IL2CPP games are compiled to Windows machine code, so they need Sikarugir or CrossOver.
Example games: Hollow Knight, Cuphead.
Guide: Unity
XNA and FNA
Section titled “XNA and FNA”Games built on Microsoft’s XNA framework, a big part of the 2010s indie scene, belong to the FNA / XNA 4 game type. They run on FNA, a reimplementation of XNA, together with FNA3D, FAudio and .NET.
Example games: Terraria, Celeste, Fez.
Guide: FNA / XNA 4
LÖVE games, including .love archives, Windows “fused” executables and Linux AppImages, run on the matching LÖVE release. If a game ships compiled Lua or LuaJIT bytecode, MacLauncher’s tools can turn it back into readable source.
Example games: Balatro, Mari0.
Guide: LÖVE
Java games run on Eclipse Temurin, with the Java version chosen to match what the game was compiled for. Java games that use Steam get steamworks4j support, and Vineflower can decompile their code.
In Runtimes, each long-term support (LTS) release of Java, from 8 to 25, has its own section, and Adoptium’s other releases are listed under Other. A game’s inspector offers the same releases, and an exact version chosen for a game stays selected even before its version list has been loaded.
Example games: Slay the Spire.
Guide: Java
Flash games (.swf) can run on Adobe’s own Flash Player projector, the default, or on Ruffle, the open-source Flash reimplementation. The projector gives the most faithful playback, and Ruffle is the alternative.
Example games: the original Meat Boy.
Guide: Flash
When a game ships its own Mac build
Section titled “When a game ships its own Mac build”When a game includes a working macOS build, most game types on this page can run it directly. That runtime is called Game’s macOS app. You still get the graphics layer, version management and tools.