Best Simulation Games for Mac

Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator (the 40th Anniversary Edition) drops you into the cockpit of a real-life aircraft and provides a level of detail that could make a Swiss watchmaker nod in appreciation. The game’s not just about whizzing from point A to B. It’s a proper simulation where you must balance fuel, monitor weather conditions, and pay attention to loads of other variables. 

The world of Microsoft Flight Simulator is the world that we live in, literally. It’s a sandbox that spans the globe and uses satellite data and Azure AI to render every hill, city, and river with jaw-dropping realism.

The graphics of MSFS could have you confuse your screen for an airplane window with its stunningly lifelike atmospheric effects and textures. The real-time weather system isn’t just for eye candy flair but a gameplay mechanic that will affect flight dynamics and add a layer of challenge grounded in realism. The commitment to realism and the educational curve really make MSFS stand out. The game teaches you the ropes of piloting in a realistic manner and at the same time sends you on a delightful visual tour of Earth from the cockpit.

Game	Microsoft Flight Simulator
macOS support	No
Alternative methods to play on Mac	Xbox Cloud (40th anniversary edition)
Platforms and operational systems	Windows, Xbox Series X/S,
Genre	Simulation, Flight, Open World
Multiplayer	No
Single-Player	Yes
Modding support	Yes (lots of official addons)
Performance on Mac (local workaround methods)	(The game runs on mid and high-range Macs, but is nearly unplayable on weaker or older Macs)
Graphics
Gameplay
Story
Soundtrack and Audio
Community and Support
Replay Value
Price/Value ratio

It’s safe to say that Microsoft Flight Simulator sets the standard for flight simulation games and as such largely defines this particular genre of simulators. This title goes beyond traditional gaming and offers a realistic experience so detailed that it doubles as both a training device and an escape into the skies.

Euro Truck Simulator 2

Euro Truck Simulator 2 is a paradoxical game. It takes the mundane task of truck driving and somehow turns it into a zen odyssey across the vast European landscapes. It’s a very special type of game – it does not seem very flashy or exciting from the outside. But after you play it for a couple of hours, you come to appreciate the uniquely relaxing type of fulfillment that it provides. 

This is a very different type of driving game. The thrill here isn’t in the high speeds and tight turns but in the precision of maneuvering a massive 18-wheeler through complex traffic patterns and narrow city streets. The core of its gameplay will test your ability to effectively manage logistics (like choosing freight and routes to timely deliveries) and adhere to road laws to avoid fines that impact profits.

Game	Euro Truck Simulator 2
macOS support	Yes
Alternative methods to play on Mac	Boosteroid, GeForce Now
Platforms and operational systems	Windows, macOS, Linux
Genre	Simulation, Driving, Open World
Multiplayer	Yes (Online Co-op)
Single-Player	Yes
Modding support	Yes
Performance on Mac	(The game runs well even on older and weaker Macs)
Graphics
Gameplay
Story
Soundtrack and Audio
Community and Support
Replay Value
Price/Value ratio

ETS2 is not a new game, yet its clean but detailed graphics have stood the test of time. The game shines with its realistic portrayal of European towns and countryside, so it’s a joy to traverse the lonely highways while enjoying the serene vistas. The immersion is helped by changing weather conditions, and day-to-night cycles which aren’t just a cosmetic flair but will affect driving visibility and fatigue levels. It’s an immersive game is what we are trying to say – the roar of the engine, the radio playing local tunes, and the scenic transitions from urban to rural areas create a compelling but also meditative experience.

Planet Zoo

Planet Zoo expands its zoo simulation roots into a deeply engaging animal and empire-management escapade that will challenge your planning, management, and maintenance skills with its complex yet intuitive gameplay mechanics. 

The thing we like the most about Planet Zoo is how each creature will behave with startling authenticity that you must account for on your quest to accommodate their needs. The animals require specific habitats, diets, and enrichment to thrive, not unlike their real-life counterparts. You’ll spend hours perfecting animal enclosures to ensure each species has the right type of terrain and company. In the meanwhile, you’ll also navigate a detailed genetics system to breed and preserve species and, obviously, also don’t forget about the zoo’s economics that you must manage with foresight in order to fund your wildlife sanctuary ambitions.

Game	Planet Zoo
macOS support	No
Alternative methods to play on Mac	Boosteroid, GeForce Now
Platforms and operational systems	Windows, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S
Genre	Simulation, Strategy, Management, Building, Sandbox
Multiplayer	No
Single-Player	Yes
Modding support	Yes (Plenty)
Performance on Mac (local workaround methods)	(The game runs well on higher-end Macs. It can also run on older and weaker ones, but only if you use the lowest settings)
Graphics
Gameplay
Story
Soundtrack and Audio
Community and Support
Replay Value
Price/Value ratio

The game’s graphics are a highlight. This is a five-year-old game, but it might as well have been made today. It boasts richly detailed animals that move and interact in lifelike ways. The vibrant environments add to the vibe and make each visit to your personal zoo feel like a new discovery. 

A hidden bonus of Planet Zoo is how it excels in providing educational value through fact-based insights into animal welfare and conservation efforts.

Ultimately, if you are into the best simulation games for mac with gameplay that brings together multiple components like planning, strategy, management, and maintenance, then Planet Zoo is a near-perfect title. It’s a very satisfying game with tons of content and can be enjoyed by both casual players and more keen gamers.

Cooking Simulator

Cooking Simulator turns the chaotic art of kitchen management into a gloriously messy, interactive physics playground. Unlike most cooking games with cookie-cutter gameplay that have you merely tap buttons to simulate cooking, this game demands you chop, fry, season, and plate dishes with the kind of finesse that would make a sous chef sweat. You’ll find yourself in a fully equipped kitchen where recipes must be followed meticulously, ingredients can spoil, and yes, fires can start if you neglect that simmering saucepan.

Game	Cooking Simulator
macOS support	No
Alternative methods to play on Mac	Xbox Cloud, Crossover, Boot Camp
Platforms and operational systems	Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Android
Genre	Simulation, Cooking, Realistic
Multiplayer	No
Single-Player	Yes
Modding support	No
Performance on Mac (local workaround methods)	(The game runs well on higher-end Macs. It can also run on older and weaker ones, but only if you use the lowest settings)
Graphics
Gameplay
Story
Soundtrack and Audio
Community and Support
Replay Value
Price/Value ratio

The graphics are surprisingly realistic, albeit not exactly high-end. We’d say the game looks pretty enough so that even your messed-up dishes will still make you feel peckish. The game’s vibe swings wildly from tranquil to tense as you race against the clock to prepare orders perfectly. Pro tip: for full immersion, play a compilation of Gordon Ramsey yelling insults while cooking the more challenging meals.  

Jokes aside, Cooking Simulator offers a unique blend of sandbox-style gameplay with a side of real-time cooking crisis management. The game can both be relaxing and also capture the adrenaline and precision of a professional kitchen without the risk of getting burned.

Dwarf Fortress

The 2022 Dwarf Fortress revamps its cult classic predecessor by giving it charming pixel graphics, an enhanced soundtrack, and more approachable gameplay (by Dwarf Fortress standards). It transforms the ASCII interface of the original into a slightly less esoteric, but still complex tapestry of dwarven chaos.

One trademark aspect of the first game that’s certainly been carried over to this version is that, unlike in other simulation titles, here the challenges never plateau. Your success in building and managing a fortress is persistently menaced by everything from starvation to dragons.

Dwarf Fortress is all about its unique gameplay that involves an almost obsessive degree of micromanagement. Every dwarf operates under your mandate but will act with its own burgeoning set of desires and fears. This collision between your orders and the “free will” of your dwarves leads to a chaotically entertaining (albeit often frustrating) dance of cause and effect. You’re playing less like an overseer and more like a teacher of 2nd graders on a school trip, who’s desperately trying to keep their pupils under control.

Game	Dwarf Fortress
macOS support	No
Alternative methods to play on Mac	Xbox Cloud, Crossover, Boot Camp
Platforms and operational systems	Windows, Linux
Genre	Simulation, Colony Sim, Building
Multiplayer	No
Single-Player	Yes
Modding support	Yes
Performance on Mac (local workaround methods)	(The game runs well on higher-end Macs. It can also run on older and weaker ones, but only if you use the lowest settings)
Graphics
Gameplay
Story
Soundtrack and Audio
Community and Support
Replay Value
Price/Value ratio

As we already pointed out, the main innovation that the 2022 version brings is graphics and interface. The game now sports a pixel-graphics art style that isn’t anything extraordinary but looks pretty and fits the overall vibe of Dwarf Fortress. Hyperrealistic visuals just wouldn’t work for this game. 

But the change we think is more important is the user-friendly UI. It makes the game a lot more accessible (especially to newcomers) but doesn’t take away the gameplay challenges. It’s still a devilishly hard game, but the difficulty is part of its charm, so don’t be discouraged if you fail your first couple (or a couple dozen) attempts.

Farming Simulator 19

Farming Simulator 19 isn’t just a game where you pretend to drive a tractor around (though you’ll be driving those a lot). It’s a deep dive into the agricultural world that lets you experience nearly every aspect of a modern farm. 

Each process in this game – from planting to harvesting, and all the cowpat-scented delights in between – demands meticulous planning and a steady hand at the wheel of increasingly expensive machinery. Most other farm games will hand you a watering can and a few seeds to play around with, but Farming Simulator 19 throws you into the driver’s seat of realistic replicas of farming vehicles and tools from brands like John Deere and Case IH.

The graphics in this game feel like stepping into a pastoral painting, with their lush fields, realistic environments, and changing weather patterns that will influence your farming strategies (if you are a prudent farmer, that is). The hum of machinery and the tranquility of country life woven into the game’s soundscapes set the perfect atmosphere and make it feel like you’re really out in the fields, sweating through your straw hat.

Game	Farming Simulator 19
macOS support	Yes
Alternative methods to play on Mac	Boosteroid, GeForce Now
Platforms and operational systems	Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Genre	Simulation, Farming Sim, Agriculture
Multiplayer	Yes (Online Co-op)
Single-Player	Yes
Modding support	Yes (Plenty)
Performance on Mac	(The game runs great even on older and weaker Macs)
Graphics
Gameplay
Story
Soundtrack and Audio
Community and Support
Replay Value
Price/Value ratio

But it’s not only atmosphere and relaxing vibes – Farming Simulator 19 has a solid gameplay that mustn’t be overlooked. It emphasizes realistic farm management practices over arcade-like farming mechanics. This means you’ll be juggling financials, equipment maintenance, and crop rotation. At times it might even feel like this game is as much a strategy game as it is a simulation. 

Farming Simulator 19 serves up a slice of rural life with a side of hardcore realism which turns out to be a winning combo. Give it a bit of your time and this game will have you eyeing agricultural degrees just as quickly as it will have you googling “how to unblock a manure spreader.”

House Flipper

House Flipper isn’t a run-of-the-mill renovation simulator but a highly realistic title that will really let you get stuck in and do the dirty work. The gameplay is a lot more than just clicking on a menu to spruce up a shabby room. You’ll scrub, paint, knock down walls, and do everything else necessary to renovate this room or that house. 

The best part of House Flipper is the surprisingly satisfying degree of control and the variety of things you can (and should) do. You’ll demolish stuff but then you’ll also use finesse to design every last detail of the interior. And all of that will be done in first-person, so you can really feel what it’s like to be in the dusty boots of a home renovator.

Game	House Flipper
macOS support	Yes
Alternative methods to play on Mac	Boosteroid, GeForce Now, Xbox cloud
Platforms and operational systems	Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android
Genre	Simulation, Building
Multiplayer	No
Single-Player	Yes
Modding support	Yes (Steam Workshop)
Performance on Mac	(The game runs great even on older and weaker Macs)
Graphics
Gameplay
Story
Soundtrack and Audio
Community and Support
Replay Value
Price/Value ratio

The game’s graphics are functional and effectively give a realistic look that will make you feel immersed in the renovation projects without needing the latest hardware. The realism extends to physics too, so expect objects to move and behave similarly to how they would in real life. This can be a blessing but can also be a curse when you’re trying to place that pesky sofa just right.

The thing that really sets House Flipper apart is its approach to details that other games might gloss over. To clean a stain, tile a bathroom, or choose the right light fixture, you won’t simply consider the aesthetics but will also have to be strategic about your choices and consider the financial side of things. You need to keep your end goal in sight – to flip each house for profit. 

The game is oddly gratifying with its gameplay loop of almost tearing down a dilapidated dump and then turning it into a dream house. It proves that there’s joy in both creation and destruction.

Kerbal Space Program 2

Kerbal Space Program is like a physics puzzle draped in a space program’s skin that demands you have a genuine grasp of aerospace engineering. You’ll have to design, build, test, and launch spacecraft, while the slapstick suffering of your green-skinned Kerbal crew guides your progress. It’s a steep learning curve but you’ll enjoy it thanks to the game’s perfect balance between scientific accuracy with engaging gameplay.

The game’s graphics are clear and functional. They aren’t pushing boundaries but that’s how they need to be to illustrate complex engineering concepts in an understandable way. That’s not to say they aren’t pretty, especially when you are looking at the game’s sprawling space vistas. 

The game’s heart is its realistic physics engine that simulates real-world orbital mechanics and spacecraft behaviors. It makes achieving orbit in this game just as thrilling as scoring a kill in a multiplayer FPS game.

Game	Kerbal Space Program 2
macOS support	No
Alternative methods to play on Mac	Crossover, Boot Camp
Platforms and operational systems	Windows
Genre	Simulation, Flight, Building, Space, Exploration, Sandbox
Multiplayer	No
Single-Player	Yes
Modding support	Yes (There are some Mods)
Performance on Mac	(The game runs well on higher-end Macs. It can also run on older and weaker ones, but only if you use the lowest settings)
Graphics
Gameplay
Story
Soundtrack and Audio
Community and Support	(The entire studio behind this game has been laid off)
Replay Value
Price/Value ratio

The combination of its open-ended gameplay and its educational value that teaches real scientific principles are standout features of this game. It’s rare for a game to achieve such a perfect blend of challenge, education, and undeniable charm, which partly saddens us considering the dumpster fire that is its sequel. Still, the original KSP is to us one of the best simulation titles out there, so we strongly recommend it if you are into this type of games.

Prison Architect

Prison Architect flips the script on your typical construction and management sim and puts you in charge of building and running a high-security prison. Your success isn’t measured just by cash flow but by the clink of locks and the quiet of well-managed cellblocks. 

You start with some empty land and a busload of orange-jumpsuit-clad possibilities. The first thing you have to do is plan the layout of your new establishment and erect its walls. It’s important that the building has enough water and power to keep the lights on and the inmates inside.

Game	Prison Architect
macOS support	Yes
Alternative methods to play on Mac	Crossover, Boot Camp
Platforms and operational systems	Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android
Genre	Simulation, Building, Sandbox
Multiplayer	Yes (There is a multiplayer Mode)
Single-Player	Yes
Modding support	Yes (There are some Mods)
Performance on Mac	(The game runs great even on older and weaker Macs)
Graphics
Gameplay
Story
Soundtrack and Audio
Community and Support
Replay Value
Price/Value ratio

The game uses a simplified top-down graphical style, which is a good call on the devs’ end because it makes it easier to get into the game’s complex gameplay. It’s not just about the physical structure of the prison – you must manage the lives within it, from prisoner morale to staff efficiency. The vibe is part penitentiary documentary, part bureaucratic puzzle resulting in a unique kind of tension that’s more about balancing a powder keg than painting by numbers.

The game’s difficulty will scale with your ambition, so be careful. High discontent and poor logistics will quickly cause the entire thing to implode spectacularly. Prison Architect is compelling because it’s about trying to maintain control while having to juggle human needs against harsh realities. It’s a sandbox with razor wire, where every building, every policy, every reform program is a test of your ethical compass and administrative savvy.

Two Point Hospital

Two Point Hospital is a revamped take on the healthcare simulation genre that doesn’t prescribe tedious micro-management and instead injects a hearty dose of whimsical chaos into the hospital administration. 

Thankfully, this particular simulation game abandons the hyperrealistic approach for something more entertaining. Here you’ll manage a series of increasingly bizarre illnesses, like Light-Headedness, where patients’ heads become lightbulbs. Needless to say, the quirky illnesses require just as quirky treatment methods.

The game sports clean, colorful graphics to highlight its humorous approach. The cartoonish designs make each bizarre ailment come to life in a comically exaggerated fashion. It’s visually engaging and also accessible so it becomes easy to get sucked into the vortex of managing the Two Point Hospital.

Game	Two Point Hospital
macOS support	Yes
Alternative methods to play on Mac	GeForce Now
Platforms and operational systems	Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Genre	Simulation, Medical Sim, Management, Building
Multiplayer	No
Single-Player	Yes
Modding support	Yes (There are some Mods)
Performance on Mac	(The game runs well even on older and weaker Macs)
Graphics
Gameplay
Story
Soundtrack and Audio
Community and Support
Replay Value
Price/Value ratio

Difficulty doesn’t scale abruptly and the early levels gently introduce the mechanics of hospital building and staff management. At the later stages challenge, you’ll have to balance the books, cure rates, and manage staff morale amidst epidemic outbreaks and earthquakes, but it never becomes unfairly challenging.

Two Point Hospital is more than just a silly game – it’s a title with polished and well-balanced gameplay that seamlessly turns complex systems into engaging and enjoyable puzzles that still offer plenty of challenge.

Notable Mentions

As always, here are the other recommended games in this genre. We couldn’t place them on the same level as the ones above, or they didn’t quite fit our criteria, but you should still look them up if you’ve got time.

• Animal Crossing
• Among Us
• Eve Online
• Firewatch

In particular we did not include “immersive sims”, because that is not defined enough in general. We wanted to target games that specifically immerse you in a particular activity. Hence we mentioned Firewatch above: it allows you to imagine what it’s like being a summer Firewatch member, although the game is also an immersive sim, which we consider a different kind of game.