War games are all over the map. So, to honor our ever-present source of joy and soul-crushing doom, Mac Gamer HQ presents you with a four-star general overview of the best war games for Mac.
As always, we’re going for different styles and genres, as well as different price points and system requirements. We aim to help you discover great new games and perhaps one of these will be perfect for you:
Our Favorites:
Total War: Warhammer 3 | World of Tanks Blitz | Company of Heroes 2 | Hearts of Iron 4 | Starcraft 2 | Into the Breach | Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 | Counter Strike: Global Offensive | Totally Accurate Battle Simulator | War Thunder |
Looking for something different? We also have a list of the 100 Best Mac games in all the best categories.
Our absolute favorite War games on Mac
Total War: Warhammer 3
Total War: WARHAMMER III is an RTS game set in the world of Warhammer. Imagine our world, but replace half the population with demons and dragons.
With seven distinct races and different abilities to choose from, Warhammer III feels like a Total War game. Which is a good thing, because the Total War franchise is well known for its heroes, highly strategic warfare, and large scale epic battles. Additionally, Warhammer III has a customizable avatar that you can move around and fight with, making you feel like an actual character controlling the armies.
Unfortunately, Warhammer 3 still has some bugs. But it remains a great game, which is why it claims a spot on this list.
Mac Release date: May 5, 2022
System requirements: macOS 12.0.1, Apple M1 (8‑Core CPU) or better, 8 GB RAM, Apple M1 (7‑Core GPU) or better, 125 GB hard drive space.
| Art | Game | Genre | 64-bit? | 64-bit | API | M1 Support | Performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Total War: Warhammer 3 | Strategy | Yes |  | Metal | Rosetta | Good |
World of Tanks Blitz
Looking for an MMO with tanks instead of dungeons? World of Tanks Blitz (WoTB), the MMO version of the popular World of Tanks, is for you. Featuring 7-vs-7 tank battles with cross-platform multiplayer (including cooperative multiplayer), WoTB is what you need when you’re in the mood for some heavy metal.
With over 200 different real-life vehicles and 18 different battle arenas, there’s plenty of variety to keep things fresh. Despite some complaints about matchmaking, the community, and what some see as a pay-to-win formula at higher levels, WoTB is still a fun, free-to-play tank fest for you and your friends.
Real Pricing: Free-to-play with in-app purchases.
System requirements: OS 10.9, 2 GB RAM, 3 GB hard drive space.
| Art | Game | Genre | 64-bit? | 64-bit | API | M1 Support | Performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | World of Tanks Blitz | MMO | Yes | | Metal | Rosetta | Good |
Company of Heroes 2
Company of Heroes (CoH) was revolutionary when it first came out in 2006. The graphics, the destructible environments. My jaw dropped the first time I saw a Panzer tank drive through a wall and kill my soldiers. Company of Heroes 2 is all that and more.
Just like the original, CoH2 is all about securing resources, building an army, and crushing the enemy. But unlike StarCraft 2, this game isn’t about building the biggest army as fast as possible. In CoH2, every unit matters and you’ll have to use the right combination of units, terrain and cover to win. This may sound complicated and slow, but don’t worry. CoH2 is an action-driven RTS with lots of destruction and mayhem.
Feral Interactive did an excellent job with this port, but the game’s advanced physics and great-looking graphics make it particularly demanding. If you have a machine with integrated graphics, our tests concluded you will probably be out of luck with this one…
A Good Match For: Fans of WW2 strategy games. There are others that take place in that period, but CoH2 is the top choice. Also, gamers looking for military strategy games. Read our in-depth Mac Performance review for more benchmarks.
System requirements: macOS 10.10.3, 1.8 GHz Intel Processor, 4 GB RAM, 512MB Nvidia 640M, 2GB AMD Radeon M290, Intel Iris Pro or better, 35 GB hard drive space.
| Art | Game | Genre | 64-bit? | 64-bit | API | M1 Support | Performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Company of Heroes 2 | Strategy | Yes | | Metal | Rosetta | Good |
Hearts of Iron 4
Set in World War 2, Hearts Of Iron is about strategizing in one of mankind’s bloodiest wars. An incredibly complex war simulation, it can take a couple of hours to even become familiar with it.
Customize your tanks, train your troops, and defend your borders, because Hearts Of Iron is all about managing your nation in times of war. Take care of your economy and civilians back home to run munition factories and research new war technology. An unorganized country leads to a poorly supplied army, which can quickly snowball into a disastrous defeat. While managing things back home, you also have to manage your troops in various places of the world. Choosing favorable terrain and having a good general can be the difference between breaking through enemy lines or a panicked retreat.
However, this game is really intensive to run and can slow down gameplay on Macs.
System requirements: macOS 10.11, Intel Core i5 2.6 GHz or better, 4 GB RAM, 2 GB HD space, ATI Radeon HD 6970M.
| Art | Game | Genre | 64-bit? | 64-bit | API | M1 Support | Performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Hearts of Iron 4 | Strategy | Yes | | OpenGL | Rosetta | Good |
Starcraft 2
The follow-up to one of the most famous RTS games in history, StarCraft 2 shouldn’t need an introduction.
This space RTS depicts a fascinating war between the Terrans, Zerg, and Protoss. But what sets this game apart is the gameplay. StarCraft 2 is fast, precise, and features perfectly balanced factions. The game is definitely easy to grasp and get into, but insanely hard to master. I stopped trying to become “good” at it a long time ago, but I still enjoy playing the campaign, a co-op mission, or the occasional skirmish against the AI.
StarCraft 2 could have been our top pick. The only reason it wasn’t was because no other game could be a better budget pick. StarCraft 2 is as budget-friendly as it gets: most of the game can be played for free, including online matches, co-op missions, and the Terran campaign.
StarCraft 2 also features nice graphics that stand the test of time and reasonable system requirements. Our 2013 MBP runs it 33 frames per second without breaking a sweat.
A Good Match For: Gamers interested in only the best RTS games for Mac. The original StarCraft defined the genre and StarCraft 2 continues to push the envelope. Also, gamers looking for free alternatives… Read our in-depth Mac Performance review for more benchmarks.
System requirements: macOS 10.11, Intel Core 2 Duo Processor, 4 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M or ATI Radeon HD 4670 or better, 30 GB hard drive space.
| Art | Game | Genre | 64-bit? | 64-bit | API | M1 Support | Performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Starcraft 2 | Strategy | Yes | | Metal | Rosetta | Poor |
Into the Breach
Into the Breach is a tactical strategy game from the same team that did FTL: Faster than Light. Set in a far future, you’ll take control of huge mechs to fight off hordes of gigantic monsters and save the World.
This may sound a lot like Pacific Rim, but the game comes with a twist: saving cities and civilians is more important than killing the monsters. So prepare to make some tough choices as this game can feel like playing chess, and you’ll often have to cut your losses and accept smaller defeats.
Featuring retro graphics, Into the Breach is an extremely easy game to run. And if you happen to have a particularly old machine that can’t run it smoothly, don’t worry, the turn-based gameplay won’t suffer.
A Good Match for: MacBook owners who prefer slower turn-based strategy games that require focus, patience, and lots of thinking. Read our in-depth Mac Performance review for more benchmarks.
System requirements: macOS 10.7, 1.7 GHz Intel Processor, 1 GB RAM, OpenGL 2.1 support, 400 MB hard drive space.
| Art | Game | Genre | 64-bit? | 64-bit | API | M1 Support | Performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Into the Breach | Strategy | Yes | | OpenGL | Rosetta | Good |
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3
Serious and casual gamers alike are both familiar with the Call of Duty Franchise, a staple of the FPS genre. If your idea of a relaxing time is “run and gun”, consider playing COD Black Ops 3.
The campaign in this game is generally confusing and involves blowing up a train. The other two game-modes offered are multiplayer and COD Zombies.
Unfortunately the multiplayer mode is dead. Hackers are a problem and most people have moved on to other games. The downsides of a 6 year old game.
The Zombies mode however, is very active and is the most praised game-mode of Black Ops 3. With a thriving modding and map-making community, there are plenty of ways to enhance your Zombie killing enjoyment.
One more thing… The game is very overpriced for a 6-year old game, especially if you’re only buying it for the Zombies game-mode. I’d recommend waiting for a sale.
System requirements: macOS 10.13.6, 2.3 GHz Intel Core i5 (4 cores) or greater, 8 GB RAM, 150 GB HD space, 2 GB ATI Radeon M295X.
| Art | Game | Genre | 64-bit? | 64-bit | API | M1 Support | Performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 | Shooter | Yes | | Metal | Rosetta | Good |
Counter Strike: Global Offensive
I’ll forgive you if you don’t recognize the title, as you mostly see it as CS: GO because people don’t want to waste time typing it, they just want to get into the action.
CS: GO is an online tactical first-person shooter and features classic content from the original Counter-Strike, such as revamped versions of classic maps, as well as brand new maps, characters, and game modes.
The game offers the most competitive online Multiplayer out there, including professionals playing on the eSports circuit. CS:GO features cross-platform Multiplayer between Windows and macOS, and if you’re worried that after all these years players might have moved on to something newer, fear not. CS: GO is still among the most played titles on Steam.
One more thing… Be warned though, CS:GO’s Multiplayer is ruthless, filled with players with thousands of hours, and requires much practice to master. On the other hand, it runs great on macOS, even on our base M1 MacBook Air test machine.
System requirements: macOS 10.6.6, 2 GHz Intel Core Duo Processor, 2 GB RAM, ATI Radeon HD 2400 or better / NVidia 8600M or better, 15 GB hard drive space
| Art | Game | Genre | 64-bit? | 64-bit | API | M1 Support | Performance |
|---|
Totally Accurate Battle Simulator
When this game came out, no one would’ve thought that a bunch of floppy clay dough men drunkenly beating each other to death would be so entertaining. TABS is a physics sandbox simulator that allows you to play god in all the silly ways.
Most of the gameplay in TABS consists of you pitting your units against other enemy units. It is important to note that these units range from medieval knights to modern-day soldiers, and to God and Death himself. Unlike the Total War series, you cannot control what your units do on the battlefield.
There is a campaign mode that challenges you to solve their military puzzles by thinking of the best way to destroy the enemy with what you have. Once you’re done with the campaign, feel free to create your own maps, scenarios, and even your own units. TABS also has a system where you can share your newly created work to other players, letting them try to solve your scenarios or have fun with a unit you’ve created.
If you enjoy watching a large-scale barfight happen, consider playing TABS.
War Thunder
A newer entry in the WWII genre formerly dominated by World War II Online, War Thunder also includes the Korean War era in its air and land combat options.
With a huge number of available planes, tanks, and even navy vessels, War Thunder offers anything your heart could desire for mid-20th-century combat.
War Thunder features full-scale PvP battles, historical campaigns in PvE, a large number of solo missions, and cooperative multiplayer. Plus it’s cross-platform on macOS, Windows, Linux, and PS4.
What else could you want in a military MMO? Well, we’ll throw in modest system requirements allowing even more of you to try it out.
Real Pricing: Free-to-play with lots of paid DLC and in-app purchases available. There are also premium accounts available starting at $7.49 for 20 days that offer extra bonuses and experience points.
System requirements: OS 10.12, Intel Core i7 Processor, 4 GB RAM, Intel 4000 HD, AMD Radeon HD 5550, NVIDIA GeForce 8800, 8 GB hard drive space.
| Art | Game | Genre | 64-bit? | 64-bit | API | M1 Support | Performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | War Thunder | MMO | Yes | | Metal | Rosetta | Good |
Our Criteria
Games have a largely subjective aspect to them. You may love some games, while I might prefer completely different ones. This is why we identified a set of criteria that every single one of our picks has to meet:
Native support: This should go without saying, but each and every one of the games mentioned here has to be officially supported on macOS and does not require Bootcamp or Wine. We’ve seen too many Top Games for macOS lists that feature Windows-only games…
macOS performance: There’s a plethora of reliable Windows-PC reviews, guides, and videos on the internet. However, they never acknowledge MacOS gaming. This is why our focus is always on the Mac performance of the games listed here.
Critical acclaim: Video games can be subjective, but to keep this guide as relevant as possible, we only consider proven games with positive reviews from both professional reviewers and average gamers.
Pricing: We all want quality, but pricing also plays an important role. We always keep in mind price tags and production value to give indies and AAA games equal chances. After all, we’re after games that are fun to play. Looks are important, but fun gameplay is even more so.
Last updated: October 18, 2022
Last updated a long time ago, this guide was in need of love. This time around we:
- Removed: Total War: Attila, Wargame: Red Dragon, The Banner Saga, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Arma 3, and Spec Ops: The Line.
- Added: Total War: Warhammer 3, World of Tanks: Blitz, Into the Breach, Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, War Thunder, and Totally Accurate Battle Simulator
Bottom line: This guide has been updated to fully reflect the current state of our favorites Mac War games!
Your Turn
If you’re into War games but feel that without PUBG, there’s nothing for you on the Mac, this list should change your mind. Despite not having some of the latest and greatest war games, there is still plenty of fun games out there, and this list should have at least one and probably more to suit your mood.
Whether you’re looking for high-end graphics that punish your system, a great story, something for your older Macbook, or anything in between, there’s a game to suit your hardware and your style.
Which one is your favorite? Did we miss any you think belong on this list? Let us know in the comments section.
Disclaimer: Some of the links above are affiliate links, which means that if you choose to make a purchase, I will earn a commission (this is how we pay the bills). This commission comes at no additional cost to you.
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