Can anyone recommend good games for a mac?

I have an iMac and, as I’m currently not working and am getting a little bored, I’d like to try some games. Trouble is, there don’t seem to be very many games for the Mac. My tastes in games are quite specific as well, which doesn’t help. Can anyone recommend any games which fit my (unreasonably narrow) criteria?

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[li] Absolutely no sports games. Any sport.[/li][li] Absolutely no racing games.[/li][li] Absolutely no beat 'em ups.[/li][li] Must have a single player option. I don’t like co-op games.[/li][li] Must have a good story, the darker the better.[/li][li] Preferably linear. I don’t like those huge, sprawling games like GTA where you get to choose the order of your missions and stuff. I like games where A leads to B leads to C, and so on.[/li][li] Ideally should have a decent puzzle element. However, I’ve no time for boring logic puzzles. I bought a puzzle game called The Talos…something or other a few months back. Then I realised all the puzzles were basically variations on ‘Dodge the robot’ which got really dull really quick. Also, a lot of games confuse “puzzles” with “find a bunch of shit”. That’s not a puzzle. That’s a scavenger hunt.[/li][li] Must have a decent action element, but not Call of Duty. I tried CoD and I didn’t really like it.[/li][/ul]

There are very few games I actually like. Of all the games I’ve played (and I’ve not played that many) the only ones I’ve really liked were Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and Max Payne. I’ve seen quite a few games which have made me think “Hmm…I’d like to give that a go.”, like LA Noir and Heavy Rain, but they’re not on a mac and I’m not going to splash out on a console.

If you can think of any Mac games you reckon I’d like, I’d love to hear about them.

P.S. - I know about emulators, but I’m hopelessly computer illiterate and the few emulators I’ve tried just haven’t worked, probably because I’m too incompetent to set them up properly, so if your suggestion involves using an emulator then it’s not gonna work for me. I’m only interested in games I can buy and download directly.

Also, I’ve had a look on Steam and couldn’t find anything, but if there’s a game on Steam you think I’ll like let me know. I might’ve missed it.

Cheers!

P.S. - No epic fantasy stuff either, cheers. Anything with an elf can fuck right off!

P.P.S. - I did quite like the original Bioshock, if that helps.

You definitely need to get Limbo. I never buy computer games — unless you count things like crossword puzzles and board games — and I bought this one and was blown away by it. It hits virtually all of your requirements. It’s sufficiently eerie that I had to play certain parts with the sound off because I was getting freaked out. Play it at night, on headphones, with the lights out — Chills City.

Actually, the “dodge the robot puzzles” don’t make up much of the game. They front load a ton of them, and after you start getting a couple other items they only appear very rarely. I’d characterize their far more common puzzle cliche as more “find out how to connect a bunch of points in 3D space”. They introduce a lot of mechanics, including a time travel mechanic where you have to solve part of the puzzle while thinking about what your future self will be doing at the same time, but I’d say the majority amount to connecting laser beam emitters to laser beam receivers with laser beam range extenders. It is a lateral thinking game, though. I’d recommend playing a bit more, at least until you maybe get to the Egypt area before you make a final decision on that one.

Bloons TD 5… best tower defense game ever.

Robot Roller-Derby Disco Dodgeball is proving to be a lot of fun.

I’ve spent more than 160 hours playing Democracy 3 and it’s still fun and interesting.

Really, tho, you should browse Steam more and read reviews. I can’t stress enough the importance of reading the reviews. There’s a buttload of games there and lots of them are fun and fit your criteria.

ETA: For isntance, this new game Laser Life sounds kind of cool.

Likewise another new one, SOMA; it seems very Bioshock-ish.

Or Code Spells, or Windward.

Also, after looking through Steam’s list of Mac games, here are some games in no particular order, but I’m going out on a slight limb. I’ll try and note what boxes it does and doesn’t tick:

[ul]
[li] Paper’s Please: puzzle solving under a time constraint. I think the “time constraint” may satisfy your action box. You’re essentially a border crossing guard for a totalitarian definitely-not-Soviet regime. Every day in the story you’re given some new asinine restriction you have to look through on people’s passports. It’s maybe not always a “puzzle” so much as “noticing stuff”, but I think it’s “puzzly enough” that most people I’d characterize as puzzle game players would probably like it.[/li]
It does have a decent story, but it’s told largely via the gameplay. That said, people show up to your little crossing booth and will tell you things, and you can make some real choices that make the story play out in multiple different ways each time depending on who you decide to help. Some of the story choices even force you to deliberately take penalties and fail objectives!

That said, it’s NOT a sandbox game, despite the branching points it’s very linear in nature.

[li] Amnesia: The Dark Descent; Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs; SOMA – I’m recommending this largely based on the fact that you liked Bioshock and Silent Hill. These games are different in that there’s no guns. You can only run and hide from the monsters, but they’re dark horror games with some (relatively easy, admittedly) puzzle elements. Very linear.[/li]
Of these, I’d recommend The Dark Descent over A Machine For Pigs. I haven’t heard much about SOMA either way, but it’s by the same people.

I wouldn’t characterize the stories as… er… good though. I’d say they “weren’t bad” easily, “reasonably entertaining”, but they don’t pass my “good” mark.

[li] Half-Life 2: A classic, you’ll probably like it if you liked Bioshock, though it does have a few sections that haven’t aged well. Especially if you turn the difficulty up. I’d say this probably checks all your boxes.[/li]
[li] Portal and Portal 2: Puzzle game where some action is required to execute puzzles properly. Written by the same people (though the gameplay is by different people from the same company) as Half-Life 2, but no shooting.[/li]
[li] The Binding Of Isaac: Rebirth: This is another “out on a limb” one. It’s kind of a dark comedy, but is incredibly, incredibly light on story and puzzling. That said, there are tons of Youtube videos on this game so I don’t hesitate in recommending it because it’s easy to find a video to watch to see if you’d like it, it’s an action game that’s randomly generated every time you play, but still very linear. [/li]
[li] Darkest Dungeon: Similar to Binding of Isaac, but trade “light on puzzling” for “light on action”. The puzzling comes in to the turn based combat. Again, Youtube is probably your friend here, but be warned that it’s not finished yet. It’s planned to be finished sometime before the end of this year.[/li]
[li] Most of Telltale’s newer Games: Most of the newer games are narrative focus. They don’t strictly have much action, but they do occasionally require quick reflexive choices. Puzzling is a bit sparse, but theoretically exists. Heavy focus on story which is usually on the darker side. I’d recommend The Walking Dead. I like the game and hate the show/comic, so if you don’t like the show don’t worry, they’re totally separate other than sharing a universe.[/li]
[li]Bioshock: Infinite: You liked Bioshock so… It’s probably a little less dark, but if you liked one you’ll probably like the other. I’m not sure a tiny iMac can actually run this game without choking, though.[/li]
[li]Transistor: This game is beautiful. I’m not sure if I’d qualify the story as “dark”, but it’s at least “serious” and not a happy-go lucky thing. It probably checks most of your boxes. Though the puzzling has more to do with the fact that you have an ability that can pause the action and let you plan out your moves. You can play the entire game as a pure action game, a pseudo-turn based game, or a hybrid based on your mood and whim.[/li]
[li]This War of Mine: It’s a game about people living in a country ravaged by war. But you don’t play the soldiers, you play the citizens just trying to survive until the war is over. Every night, you go to places to scavenge for resources. Your goal is simply to make your little colony survive for long enough. Probably “enough” action and puzzling to satisfy you.[/li]
I’d say it has a “dark setting”, but it’s not “story driven” in that it’s not like there’s a cutscene every couple days that tells you what’s happening. Most of the story you stumble upon by bumping into people while scavenging, or by listening to the in-game radio.
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TLDR, Half-Life 2, Portal, and the games under “Amnesia” are probably your safest bets. I also put some in there a little outside of your comfort zone just for you to check out because I think you might like them.

Also, even if it hits Mac. Please do not get Heavy Rain. Heavy Rain may seem like a good, puzzle/action story-driven game with a dark story, but it is primarily enjoyable as a trainwreck like all games by that guy (David Cage). I can’t say I regret spending the time I did with it, but it is Not A Good Game™ except in that “laughing at bad movies” sort of way.

Edit: Actually, Portal may be less of a safe bet since you didn’t like The Talos Principle, but it’s so damn cheap you don’t have much to lose.

Moved to Game Room.

Borderlands 2? For $5 right now, so it’s worth the try.

X-Com might be up your alley.

Starcraft II might also appeal to you, unless the Protoss count as “elves”. They’re an ancient race of sanctimonious arrogant pricks, but they’re aliens, not fey.

And I was going to mention Trine 2, but although there are no elves, it’s unambiguously fantasy.

Jragon’s list is quite good. I’d suggest maybe subbing in **Bastion **for Transistor, though. Transistor is a beautiful game, but the gameplay itself is very clunky. Bastion is similarly beautiful, but a much more solid gameplay experience.

On the puzzle side of things, I love **SpaceChem **and Infinifactory. They’re not really story focused, but they do have very darkly weird worlds. Not actiony at all, though.

I like the **Borderlands **series a lot, but it’s definitely a big, sprawling game filled with side missions, which sounds like it would put the OP off.

Bioshock 2 tends to get forgotten a lot, but it’s actually quite good. If the OP likes the original, that could be a good choice. The story isn’t as good, but it does do some interesting things and the gameplay itself is a step up.

Honestly, the good story requirement leaves me stretching. I love games, but there aren’t more than a handful that I think have legitimately good stories.

It’s more the confluence of dark/linear/good story/action. I can think of a lot of games that tick two of those boxes, but not all four. It’s almost exclusively the action-horror genre that ticks dark/linear/action, but they often don’t do well at story. Conversely, games that succeed at good story frequently aren’t as dark as the games the OP has liked, or aren’t action-focused, or aren’t linear.

Yeah, for those four criteria plus MacOS you’re pretty much left with action-horror and FPS.

Maybe Deus Ex: Human Revolution? It’s linear in that you go from mission to mission in a strictly linear fashion, but have a lot of choice as to how you go about taking on each mission.

Oh, how about Batman: Arkham Asylum? That should tick all the boxes. There’s some exploration, but it’s mostly linear. The sequels would embrace a more open world structure, but the original is a pretty tight, linear experience.

Hotline Miami was the Game of the Year for a whole bunch of people a few years back. Not really a great story, but definitely atmospheric and about as dark and gritty as you can get.

How about Psychonauts? Yeah, you’re going to have to choose which order to tackle the levels, but as far as story, setting, and characters go it’s some of the best. It can get very dark, as well.

Oh, Spec Ops: The Line might be an excellent choice. It’s not what I would call a fun game, exactly, but it’s a genuinely compelling experience. Like watching a very good movie about a disturbing subject matter. It’s very much not what it seems.

For games I haven’t played but were reviewed very positively, you might want to take a look at Outlast, Metro: Last Light, or The Darkness: II.