# Suggestions for Mac games for Attacklad (11 y old boy) **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 20, 2011, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-mac-games-for-attacklad-11-y-old-boy/575355 "2011-03-20T13:55:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-mac-games-for-attacklad-11-y-old-boy/575355/1 "2011-03-20T13:55:20Z")
So **Attacklad** is coming up on his 11th birthday. He’s done the DS thing, He’s played a few games, but he’s not allowed to devote lots of time to gaming, and **Imp of the Perverse** , his mother, is not a technophile. We’ve got _Plants versus Zombies_ and\* Angry Birds\* on the Mac, but he’d like something more. I looked at the Steam website, and have been considering _[Civ V](http://store.steampowered.com/app/8930/)_ (is _Civ V_ better than\* Civ iV\*? I haven’t played since _Civ III_, I think) \* [Flight Control](http://store.steampowered.com/app/62000/) \*(flight traffic controller game) _[Altitude](http://store.steampowered.com/app/41300/?snr=1_5_9__13)_ (flying shooting game) and \* [Precipice of Darkness](http://store.steampowered.com/agecheck/app/18000/)\* (Mostly because I read Penny-Arcade’s site) Of course, he’d like something like _Blood Soaked Army of Darkness Zombie Killing Sniper Frenzy_, but that’s not in the cards. A slightly less gory FPS might be sellable, but it wouldn’t be easy. A good WW1 or WW2 shoot em up flight simulator might fly, so to speak. I’ve only glanced at the Mac App store, (_Star Trek DAC, Battle of Midway, Island Racer, Knights of the Old Republic, Guerilla Bob_…aaaaaaaaaahhh) and about then is when I realized that recommendations and opinions from my fellow dopers would be more valuable than sifting through zillions of games. Suggestions? Reviews? Comments? I appreciate any help provided. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-mac-games-for-attacklad-11-y-old-boy/575355/2 "2011-03-20T16:59:07Z")
All of Blizzard’s games are available on Mac. _Diablo II_ might prove to be a happy medium between _Blood Soaked Army of Darkness Zombie Killing Sniper Frenzy_ and something you’d actually approve (or you could wait another year or so for _Diablo III_). And also Starcraft, Warcraft, and World of Warcraft, of course. _Portal_ can be considered an FPS, but it isn’t gory at all. Your character is the only thing organic in the entire game. Where there are enemies at all, they’re non-anthropomorphic robot turrets. And I haven’t played either, but most reviewers seem to like Civ IV better than V. There are also those who say that Civ II and Alpha Centauri were better than either, but the graphics on those might seem a bit dated to him. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-mac-games-for-attacklad-11-y-old-boy/575355/3 "2011-03-20T17:31:21Z")
Thanks Chronos. I’ve done _Portal_, he seemed to be interested. I’ll check out _Diablo_ and _Civ IV_. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-mac-games-for-attacklad-11-y-old-boy/575355/4 "2011-03-20T17:50:42Z")
Civ IV might be the better game, but Civ V is a lot more accessible. Team fortress 2 is a shooter, but it’s very cartoony, that might or might not be ok. But check it out. The Tell Tale games are Mac compatible, so the new Back to the future game might be good for him. Also the monkey Island remakes! Would you be willing to dual boot windows? Lots of windows games out there 🙂 More mac games: Sims 3 Spore Braid and Trine are great puzzle platformers, Trine you cna play coop with him. Majesty 2! Great, light hearted RTS World of Good X3 - space sim. ---
**Author:** ![Sakuma\_Drops](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sakuma\_Drops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sakuma_Drops)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-mac-games-for-attacklad-11-y-old-boy/575355/5 "2011-03-21T02:22:47Z")
I don’t know if it’s available via Steam or direct download, but I’ve always enjoyed the [Age of Empires](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_empires) series. They’re slightly similar games to the Civilization series, but with a bigger emphasis on military strategy and tactics (you get to play around with lots of different soldier types and civilizations). [Age of Mythology](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Mythology) is a spinoff from this series and is a LOT of fun. You play one of a few ancient civilizations such as the Greeks, Egyptians, etc. and pay tributes to different gods/goddesses. In return you get lots of cool myth-units like chimeras, phoenixes, valkyries, and kraken to fight for you as well as various god-powers to use on occasion (my favorite being the one that lets you turn some of your enemy’s units into pigs, like in _The Odyssey_ :D) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-mac-games-for-attacklad-11-y-old-boy/575355/6 "2011-03-21T03:33:25Z")
It should be noted that Age of Empires is real-time, not turn-based like Civ is. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-mac-games-for-attacklad-11-y-old-boy/575355/7 "2011-03-21T05:07:19Z")
Myth: The Fallen Lords and its sequel, Myth II: Soulblighter are the best Mac games I ever had. I could spend hours and hours playing these games…but, something to realize, is that it is NOT an RTS game. You’ll realize that when you try to play it that way and die in 3 minutes. You have to micro-manage every single individual troop in the Myth games and be able to multitask like crazy. It is hard. Very, very hard. It’s one of the hardest games I’ve ever played. At the higher difficulty levels, I really don’t understand how anyone can play it. Yet people manage to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-mac-games-for-attacklad-11-y-old-boy/575355/8 "2011-03-21T15:55:29Z")
[Ambrosia](http://www.ambrosiasw.com/) made, and still makes, some mighty fine games. Can’t tell you how many hours I’ve put into [EV Nova](http://www.ambrosiasw.com/games/evn/). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-mac-games-for-attacklad-11-y-old-boy/575355/9 "2011-03-21T16:12:06Z")
> [@](#): > > You have to micro-manage every single individual troop in the Myth games and be able to multitask like crazy. It is hard. Very, very hard. It’s one of the hardest games I’ve ever played. At the higher difficulty levels, I really don’t understand how anyone can play it. Yet people manage to do it. You do know that you can pause the game and give orders while paused, right? That gives you all the time you need to micro. ---
**Author:** ![TheFifthYear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@TheFifthYear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFifthYear)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-mac-games-for-attacklad-11-y-old-boy/575355/10 "2011-03-21T16:39:21Z")
I’d highly recommend Starcraft 2 and also Torchlight, especially if you are considering a Diablo-type game. I have Flight Control HD, and frankly I kind of like the free Flash based version better. It’s such a casual game that I prefer just having it in a browser window for a little bite-sized chunk of gameplay here and there rather than launching into a full screen game.