Contraband Police on Mac

Contraband Police is not on Mac, but if you follow our instructions for Boosteroid, Parallels, CrossOver, or Boot Camp, you’ll be able to play this game on an Apple machine. In spite of the fact that this title isn’t available for macOS systems, the workarounds we mentioned are all viable methods of playing Contraband Police on a MacBook or a Desktop Mac.

Can you play Contraband Police on Mac M1?

You can easily play Contraband Police on a Mac machine: for instance, you can stream it through Boosteroid, as shown in our guide, or use Parallels or Boot Camp to get Windows on your Mac and then download the game from Steam.

How to download Contraband Police on Mac from Steam

The ways to download Contraband Police from Steam on your Mac involve using the Parallels, CrossOver, or Boot Camp apps and are shown in our guides that can be found further down this page. Since the game has no native macOS version, emulating Windows or directly installing it are the only methods to locally play Contraband Police on an Apple machine.

No matter which method you opt to use, you need to first own the game on Steam in order to play it:

How to play Contraband Police with Boosteroid

1. To start playing the game, you’ll have to sign up on Boosteroid by clicking the button below. For a speedy setup, we suggest using your Google account to log in.

2. After you are registered, click the profile icon in the top left corner of the page and choose “Subscribe”. Pick the subscription plan that fits your needs the best and enter your payment information to activate the service.

3. Following that, use the search bar to search for Contraband Police and choose “Play” to start the game. You’ll have to sign in to your Steam account once Boosteroid loads the game.

contraband police boosteroid

How to play Contraband Police with Parallels

How to play Contraband Police with CrossOver

How to play Contraband Police with Boot Camp

About Contraband Police

In 2013, Papers, Please ushered in a new era in gaming by demonstrating that a game need not rely on a complex narrative or flashy gameplay to be a masterpiece. Its success spawned numerous copycats in the bureaucracy simulator genre, with varying degrees of success. Contraband Police, developed by Crazy Rocks and published by PlayWay S.A., is one of the more successful attempts at capturing the magic of Papers, Please.

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Set in the Acaristan People’s Republic, a totalitarian communist country where every move is monitored, Contraband Police places you in the role of a border inspector. Your main task is to check papers, search for contraband, and prevent smugglers from entering the country. While this may seem tedious, it requires a sharp eye for detail, as you must inspect everything from car weight to missing parts and luggage symbols.

Despite its lack of depressing overtones, Contraband Police remains engaging to play. The addition of an intuition meter that enables you to identify discrepancies in papers facilitates the detection of potential smugglers. The game’s 3D design ensures that even the most mundane aspects of the job do not become dull. There’s also an immense satisfaction in smashing smugglers’ cars to pieces while searching for contraband.

Contraband Police shines in the aspects that deviate from simulating a monotonous job. In addition to processing papers, you must also transport illegal border crossers, investigate murders in a semi-open world, deliver contraband to police bases, upgrade your base, engage in shootouts with rebel factions, purchase new guns to assist you in your overarching mission, and travel around the map. These features differentiate Contraband Police from its competitors and demonstrate its uniqueness.

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Despite its strengths, the game’s story and tone are not particularly intriguing. The narrative, while present, lacks the emotional depth and nuanced moral choices found in more sophisticated games in the genre. It’s challenging to discuss the worth of human life in a Communist country while gunning down dissidents with an AK47.

Contraband Police’s graphics are compelling, with Slavic songs offering an enjoyable listening experience. The shooting, stabbing, and other 3D interactions with the game’s environment are satisfying, although a little dated. The game’s coding is well-optimized, with few bugs or significant problems.

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Overall, Contraband Police is a top contender in the Papers, Please-esque gameplay category. While it may not match the complexity and intrigue of games from the mid-2010s, the inclusion of gameplay elements more than compensates for its straightforward storyline. Whether you’re scrutinizing the accuracy of documents, battling insurgents, or driving smugglers to labor camps, there’s always something exciting to keep you engaged.

However, the game isn’t without flaws. The lack of a manual save feature is bothersome, and the absence of randomly generated people at the checkpoint enables players to memorize who receives a pass and who doesn’t. While the open world is a great addition, it feels barren and driving can be tedious, with the ever-present risk of ambushes and hefty fines for harming civilians. Combat isn’t the game’s strong suit, and enemy AI isn’t particularly intelligent.

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Despite its shortcomings, Contraband Police is an enjoyable experience that captures the essence of Papers, Please. While other games with similar premises and gameplay may offer superior experiences, the thrill of hacking apart a car with an axe only to find a stash of drugs inside is uniquely satisfying. If you’re looking for a game that revolutionizes the industry, Contraband Police may not be the game for you. However, if you’re seeking a game that offers a refreshing take on the bureaucracy simulator genre and a fun gameplay loop, it’s worth a try.