This post is part of a series that revisits some of our readers’ favorite articles from the past that still contain awesome and relevant information that you might find useful. This post was originally published on April 19th, 2011.
Steam is perhaps the best platform for buying and playing games online and for enjoying a social gaming experience. Although there isn’t exactly a great deal of competition, Steam has proved to be a reliable platform for gaming on both the PC and the Mac.
Last year it was announced that it was headed for the Mac OS, and since then we’ve seen many releases on our favorite platform. Here are some of our favorite games available on Steam for your Mac.
Portal
Portal
Portal revolutionized the gaming scene when it first came out way back in 2007. It changed what a “puzzle” game is supposed to be with its quirky mechanics and outrageously fun story. Portal is a puzzle-FPS (first person shooter). You have a gun that can shoot up “portals” which allow you to do unimaginable things, and the game really pushes for you to think differently while you are playing it in order to advance through it.
Portal 2 is coming out on April 19th, and it looks very promising. If you weren’t one of the lucky ones that got the first edition of the game for free on the Steam for Mac launch, you can still pick it up for $10 on Steam.
Left For Dead 1 & 2
Left For Dead 2
Left For Dead is a co-op inclined survival first person shooter, where you are supposed to go around several towns, trying to survive the zombie apocalypse with your other 3 buddies.
Left for Dead 2 is the continuation to the very popular first game by Valve, and it improved on it by adding more guns and more maps. They both came out in 2008 and 2009, respectively, and they achieved critical and commercial success.
They both go for $20 on Steam, and we’ll guarantee you’ll get more than your money’s worth with any of them!
Counter-Strike: Source
Counter Strike Source
Feeling old-school? Source is one of the most popular, if not the most popular first person shooter and – even though it came out 7 years ago – it still has an amazing following. CS:S is a very conventional, but fast-paced shooter game, and what it made it so great was the mods available for it and the huge community behind it.
Even though it’s old, it is still widely played by many people around the globe, probably because it’s so great and it has only improved with time. You can get it for $20 on Steam.
Sid Meier’s Civilization V
Civ V
The Sid Meier’s Civilization series has been a very popular and long-running one. The latest installment of it came out in late 2010 and it’s called Civilization V. If you’ve never played these games, they’re strategy-based and you play as if you were the leader of a civilization that must build up your cities and conquer your enemies to become the ruler of them all.
It’s similar to another popular game called Age of Empires, except Civ is turn-based, and in my opinion, more complete and fun. Civilization V has been called the best Civ game yet, and it goes for $39 on Steam.
Half-Life 2, HL2: Episode One and HL2: Episode 2
Half Life 2
Half-Life is a massively popular franchise, and it has a very devoted following behind it (deservedly so!) It is a first person shooter with a twisted but interesting story mode that borders on sci-fi and very solid gameplay. Half-Life 2 came out in 2004, Episode One in 2006 and the Episode Two in 2007.
While you can get all of them separately for around $10, I recommend you get the Orange Box, which is a package that includes Portal, Team Fortress 2 and all the Half Life games presented above for $20.
Team Fortress 2
Team Fortress 2
Team Fortress 2 is a class-based multiplayer-only game that gained a lot of fame back when it came out in 2007. In it, you get to play as different classes like Pyro, Spy, Medic, Engineer, etc. and all of them give you a different perspective on the game, as you have to adapt to what your character is good at.
Team Fortress 2 is as fun as multiplayer games go, because it doesn’t take itself very seriously. It’s also available as part of the Orange Box package, but you can get actually play this one free!
Braid
Braid
Braid is a platformer/puzzle game with a very fun twist to it: you can manipulate time. You have to use this in your favor to get through a bunch of levels and rescue the abducted princess.
The game does a great job at immersing you into its gimmick, and when you finish it, you’ll start thinking of time differently (at least I did for a while). Braid is a game for anyone, as it’s easy to get into it and it doesn’t require a lot of time. You can get it for $10 on Steam.
World of Goo
World of Goo
World of Goo, just like Braid, is a casual game that is a lot of fun and is easy to pick up and understand. It relies heavily on physics, and has a puzzle mechanic to it. You have to get through a series of levels while building structures with the “goo” balls that you are given.
World of Goo goes for $10 on Steam, and while it may seem a bit childish, it’s a ton of fun.
Peggle Nights and Peggle Deluxe
Peggle Nights
Peggle is a game that has had success on multiple platforms, and now you can play it on your Mac. It is a very arcade-ish game where you have to go through a series of levels and clear all the “pegs” in order to advance.
The game is simple but fun, and coupled with the trophies available for it and the different characters, it will last you quite a while. Both Peggle Deluxe and its follow-up, Peggle Nights go for $10 each.
Assassin’s Creed 2
Assassin's Creed 2
Assassin’s Creed is a popular adventure franchise that has had massive success on consoles as well as on the PC. In the second installment of it you play an assassin that must take revenge for his family during the Renaissance in several cities of Italy.
While the follow-up to it (Brotherhood) came out a few months ago, the second one still is a great game if you haven’t played the others. It goes for $20 on Steam.
Machinarium
Machinarium
Machinarium is an odd-looking puzzle game based on a world populated by robots. You play as a robot who must save his girlfriend, and to achieve it you have to solve a bunch of puzzles and mini-games spread out across the game.
While I’d never heard of it, it seems to have been pretty popular with the critics, and it definitely seems like it’s worth a try. Machinarium is made by indie developers and it goes for $10.
Conclusion
Most of these games aren’t new releases. Most of them are at least one year old, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Steam hasn’t really been out long enough for the Mac, and for the time it’s been around, this is a pretty decent list of games.
Also, let’s take into account the fact that more and more games are coming out for the Mac at release date, like Portal 2.
It seems like finally we can have a platform that is taken seriously by game developers, with the potential to become a great source for gamers in the future.