Jul 21, 2018 Looking for FREE FPS games for your Mac? No worries, I’ve got you covered with the 12 best FREE Mac FPS Games! Discover more FREE Mac Games: https://www.yout. OneCast impressions: Streaming Xbox One games to your Mac works much better than expected OneCast hiccups a bit if you try to stream through a normal Wi-Fi connection, but it's almost like playing.
Apple Watch is cool — just plain cool. There are myriad things that we can now do by tapping the gorgeous device on our wrists, and while productivity is the name of the game, a little fun once in a while never hurt anyone!
Let's be real: You're not gonna find a fully immersive gaming experience for Apple Watch, but you will find some excellent time wasters.
Here are the best games you can play on your Apple Watch!
Note: You'll have to download all of these on your iPhone first, and in many cases, you'll have to play a bit or sign in/open them on your iPhone before you can play on your Apple Watch.
Pocket Bandit
Although it's a rather simple game, Pocket Bandit does what a lot of other Apple Watch games don't; use the hardware in a memorable way.
You're a thief who's always on the prowl for the next jewel, gold, gemstone, or top secret file that you can pry from the security of a safe. The gameplay is simple, you need to figure out the combination of each safe (usually two or three numbers) before the time runs out and the cops catch you. You're always trying to beat your high score — calculated by how much money you steal — so open as many safes as you can. Some of the vaults you need to crack even have special anti-theft devices attached to them that you'll need to avoid.
The best part of Pocket Bandit is its use of the Digital Crown. You need to rotate the Digital Crown around to dial the number of the safe. When you get close to the right number, you'll feel your Apple Watch vibrate. With the haptic feedback provided by the Apple Watch, it really makes you feel like you are turning a dial or lock of some kind.
Lifeline
If you're looking for something to pass the time and want something kinda creepy cool, then check out Lifeline. You'll speak with stranded astronaut and try to unravel his predicament and secrets by choosing your responses to everything he says.
You'll have to connect to the app on your iPhone first, but once you do, you'll start to receive the messages on your Apple Watch, tapping each of your responses as you delve deeper into the mystery and try to help Taylor survive by giving him instructions to explore marooned ships and tell him which way to travel.
This is the first in a series of great text adventures from developer 3 Minute Games. Check 'em out!
Rules!
Rules! is a fantastic brain teaser app that has you, well, following rules. Things will start off simple, like 'Tap the unicorn', so you'll have to tap the unicorn tile. The next round will add a rule, which you'll have to follow, and it'll then say 'Follow rule 1', so you'll have to tap the unicorns again. As you progress, more rules are added, so you have to think about the rule of the moment while trying to remember all the other rules in succession.
If you're looking for fun, colorful timewaster that'll give your brain a hell of a workout, then I highly recommend Rules!
Trivia Crack
Like trivia? Like competitive trivia even better? Good. Trivia Crack is just that.
In a sort of Trivial Pursuit-style game, you play random people around the world in an effort to collect all the game characters, each representing a different category. Each turn, you'll spin the wheel, which will land on a character, forcing you to answer a question based on that category. It could be history, geography, entertainment, sports, art, or science.
You'll answer questions until you get one wrong, so you could very well running the board and increasing your points total. You can also challenge your opponents in head-to-head battles of wits or chat with your friends and challenge them to games of mental fortitude.
If you're a trivia buff, then definitely check this one out. Just don't expect a game for PhDs — most of the questions are fairly simple, with the odd curveball tossed in for good measure.
Field Day
If you're a fan of Farmville or Hay Day, then you'll have a field day with this one (OMG DID YOU SEE WHAT I DID THERE?!). In Field Day, you buy plots of land with the coins you accumulate from selling your produce. You'll grow veggies and sell them, while unlocking new crops and livestock, fulfilling orders, and growing your farm as you participate in various events.
One of the coolest features of Field Day is its integration of the Digital Crown, which you use to scroll up and down your farm to view orders, your crops, and your farmhouse. The Postman will randomly show up to give you missions, which you'll need to complete on your iPhone, so this game is perfect for quick 15-second blasts, as well as somewhat longer play sessions when you have the time.
Letter Zap
I love word games, and if you love word games too, then you'll dig Letter Zap. It's a quick time-waster that you can play in short bursts. All you're trying to do is make a word out of the given letters, of which there will be three to six.
You have to use all the letters you're given and you're trying to make as many words as possible in the time allotted. If a race against the clock isn't what you're after, then try Zen Mode, where you can form unlimited words with no time limit. Heartbeat Mode has you playing against your own heart rate (you'll have to give Letter Zap access to your Health data on your iPhone). The higher your heart rate, the more time you have to make words.
This is an excellent word game with great animations on the Apple Watch. Definitely not to be missed!
Snappy Word
Snappy Word is a lot like Letter Zap but with a simpler interface and only four letters at a time. Play to make as many words as you can in 30 seconds or pick up your phone and play the same way or play until you make a mistake, with no time limit. There's also an iMessage app that lets you challenge friends to unscramble words.
Every time a game ends, you'll get kicked out of the app on your Apple Watch so that it can refresh (I guess?). If you're looking for another fun, wordy time-waster, Snappy Word is great, and it's free.
Runeblade
Are you an RPG fan? Would you believe you can get a fairly full RPG experience on your wrist? I never would've thought so either, but Runeblade is a wildly fun continuous slasher where you fight enemy after enemy, accruing points so that you can upgrade your runes and cast new spells upon them to lengthen your attack duration, raise damage, and more.
The enemies are fun and weird-looking, which makes this game extra special (you encounter the strangest old dude early on — you'll know him when you see him).
The iPhone app is a little more involved, with more animations and stuff, but we're talking about Apple Watch, and if you're looking for a full-color, animated, hackin' and slashin' good time, then definitely check out Runeblade. It's perfect in short bursts and addictive enough that it'll keep you on the toilet long after you're finished with your business.
Tiny Armies
Wrist-based conquest has never been so fun. Tiny Armies is a fast-paced game that makes you swipe to move your units and take over your enemy's territory. You'll encounter lakes, mountains, and forests as obstacles, and gameplay is in quick bouts, perfect for the Apple Watch. You can play alone, head-to-head with your friends, or with anyone in the world via iMessage.
Komrad
Komrad is an interactive fiction game in which you chat with a Soviet A.I. from 1985. The A.I. has been training in secret for 30 years and still thinks the Cold War is raging. If you're at all interested in casually playing through a cryptic tale of mystery and potential nuclear disaster, then Komrad should keep you occupied as you carefully choose your responses so as not to destroy the entire world.
Elevate: Brain Training
This may not be a game, per say, but Elevate: Brain Training will still entertain you while also making use of your epic brainpower. With the Apple Watch app, you can enjoy over 35 mini game activities that help you improve your critical cognitive skills, like focus, memory, processing, math, precision, and comprehension. It also gives you detailed performance tracking so you can see how good you're doing, and it adapts to you to provide you with a level of challenge that is geared for you and no one else.
Bubblegum Hero
Need something to keep you busy for a few minutes? Then Bubblegum Hero is the entertainment you're looking for. The concept is simple: hold a finger on the screen to blow a bubble, and make sure that your bubble is big enough to fit within the two circles on the screen. Sounds simple, right? But make sure you don't fill it up too much, because then it'll pop and you'll end up with gum everywhere! The circles are constantly expanding and contracting, so the target sizes change, making it harder to keep up with over time. Think you can handle it?
Lifeline 2
Did you not get enough of the first Lifeline? Then Lifeline 2 will satisfy your Apple Watch text adventures. In Lifeline 2, you get a text adventure that is almost twice as long as the original, and it has even more choices and paths to explore. It also has a 28-minute original soundtrack.
The story of Lifeline 2 involves Arika, a young woman who must set out on a deadly adventure to avenge her parents and rescue a long lost brother. Your choices are what keeps her alive, or kills her.
Gettin' wristy with it
What's your favorite game for Apple Watch? Did you even know there were so many awesome games to play on your wrist? Let us know in the comments below!
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By Malcolm Owen
Thursday, March 15, 2018, 11:25 am PT (02:25 pm ET)
As newer games are released, the specifications needed to play them smoothly continue to rise, and can end up being unplayable on some desktops. In the event that there happens to be a second computer that's more powerful and more suitable for gaming, the obvious answer is to use that one, but there are situations where it is unfeasible.
For example, the more powerful computer could be in a completely different place in the house to where you would prefer to play the game. Maybe there's a Mac mini connected to a large living room TV that isn't great at displaying games, but a Mac Pro in the home office which can easily do the job, but you don't want to move.
Valve Software's answer to this is built into the app for the Steam online game marketplace: Steam In-Home Streaming.
Using two computers over the same network, the powerful host computer can play the game and send a video stream to a client desktop, which displays the image. Inputs taken from peripherals, like keyboards and game controllers, are fed back from the client computer to the host, which then performs the commands in-game.
The feature also offers the benefit of not having to install the game on the client desktop at all, only the host, minimizing the amount of storage used up by game files. It also expands the Mac's game collection, as the stream works across Windows and Mac desktops, meaning Windows games are playable on a Mac in this way.
Requirements
Two computers are needed for In-Home Streaming: the host and the client. Originally the host was limited to Windows PCs, but it has since been updated to work with Mac desktops, and Linux.
In terms of hardware, Valve recommends a minimum of a quad-core processor for the host. Client desktops can be lower-powered but must be capable of H.264 decoding, preferably using hardware acceleration.
For Mac specifically, the host needs to run OS X 10.8 at a bare minimum.
Both systems need to be on the same network for In-Home Streaming to function. It is recommended to use a wired network due to the high amount of bandwidth required, but there are also claims it will work on wireless N and AC networks and some powerline networking equipment.
As it is a feature of Steam, the software itself has to be installed on both the host and client, which can be downloaded from the store's website. It is also expected that the user has an account set up with Steam, has games they want to play on the account, and has already installed them on the host.
Setting up on Mac
Launch Steam on both the client and the host systems, and log in to the same account on each desktop. For Mac users, the Steam client can be accessed within the Applications folder in the Finder.
On both computers, select Steam in the Menu then Preferences. In the Preferences Window, select In-Home Streaming in the left-hand column, then click the tickbox next to Enable streaming if one is not present.
This window will show other Mac and PC desktops on the network that are logged into the same account, as well as whether they are enabled for In-Home Streaming or not.
Host Mac Settings
To fine tune the host's settings, click the Advanced Host Options button midway down the window.
This new window will offer up a number of ways to change how the stream is generated on the host desktop, with the default options usually fine for most users. If you are familiar with the specifications of the client Mac, you could select or disable the hardware-encoding and capture options to suit your hardware, but it isn't essential.
The top option, 'Change desktop resolution to match streaming client,' will aim to match the resolution of the client system for a better experience, but this could potentially cause performance issues if the host is not capable of rendering the game at that level. Keeping this switched off will instead send the same resolution as the game is already set to run at on the host.
The 'Dynamically adjust capture resolution to improve performance' setting is self explanatory, and is generally a good idea to keep enabled. The stream will try to reduce in resolution if issues occur, like network lag, instead of stopping completely or stuttering at a higher resolution.
If software encoding is employed but it is choking the gameplay, you can limit the number of threads used in the Number of software encoding threads dropdown box instead of allowing Steam to automatically manage it for you.
Lastly, it is highly advised to enable 'Prioritize network traffic,' as for newer routers with network traffic prioritization features, this will limit the impact of other network users on the stream's connection.
Close this window by clicking OK.
Client Mac Settings
The main Preferences window includes three basic options for how users want the stream to appear from the host on the client. Balanced is the default, while Fast will prioritize speed rather than picture quality when decoding the stream, and Beautiful opts for higher quality images but potentially lower frame rates.
More settings are available by clicking Advanced Client Options.
In cases where the network is being used for other tasks or bandwidth needs to be preserved for various reasons, the Limit bandwidth dropdown box can restrict the stream's bandwidth usage. Generally, the more bandwidth is used, the better the stream will appear on the client.
The 'Limit Resolution' dropdown gives the client the ability to limit the stream's resolution, which can reduce the overall bandwidth used or sacrifice the resolution in favor of higher frame rates. The stream can go as low as 480p, with the upper limit being the display resolution of the client system.
There is support for multiple speaker configurations in the menu, allowing clients to request stereo, quadrophonic, and 5.1 surround sound from the host, if available from the game and usable on the client. It is usually advised to stick to Stereo to preserve bandwidth usage for the visual element of the stream.
A tickbox is also available to enable hardware decoding on the client, if it has supporting hardware. If it does not, this is instead performed in software, and may be more taxing to the client Mac overall.
Lastly, the 'Display performance information' tickbox will show data relating to the stream on the client's screen, making it useful for diagnosing a poor quality video feed from the host.
Click OK to close the window.
Starting the stream
Ensure Steam is running on both the client and the host desktops.
On the client, select Library in the main Steam window, and select
the game you wish to play from the left-hand column. Available to play games will be brighter on this menu, regardless of whether it is installed locally or streamable. In the selected game's screen, click the arrow next to Play to bring up a dropdown box, and select the host system from the list. Click the now-renamed Stream button to launch the game.
On the first occasion the Host will be used, the client will show a notification that actions need to be carried out on the Host. This refers to drivers that need to be installed by Steam in order to stream.
On the Host, click Install on the Gamepad Driver Update window, and pass through the installation process for Steam Input. Typically this requires clicking Continue, Install, entering your macOS account's password, authorizing it in the Security & Privacy settings menu following the 'Allow' notification, Ok on the notification, then Close once the installation completes.
Attempt to run the game stream again on the client. A second host actions notice will be displayed, this time for audio drivers.
On the Host, click Install on the Audio Driver Update window, and go through its installation process. This time the path for the default installation of Ambrosia AudioSupport will be Continue on the package installation determination notice, Continue on the welcome screen, Install, enter the Mac account's password, Continue Installation at the restart notice, and authorizing the Security and Privacy settings to allow it to continue.
At the successful installation screen, click Restart to reboot the Mac.
Once it has booted and been logged in, load Steam again on the Host, and reattempt to load the stream from the client. On this third attempt, the host should start up the game and commence the stream, which will then be displayed and playable on the client, if everything is installed correctly.
Note that this process is shorter for future play sessions, as the drivers only need to be installed once.
A Word on Windows
As games can be streamed from a Windows host to a Mac client and vice versa, it is worth covering how to perform this in Windows. Handily, the basic instructions are the same for both platforms.
Once installed on Windows, launch Steam, click the Steam menu item in the top-left corner, then Settings. In the new window, select In-Home Streaming in the left-hand column, then follow the rest of the Mac guide above.
Best Games To Stream On Pc
The main difference is in the driver installation for the host, as while the initial notice window will be the same for both GamePad and Audio drivers, the process of installing the drivers themselves will differ. Unless there is something specific to the host's particular Windows installation that needs attention, the default options will work fine.Starting the game stream using Windows as a client is identical to Mac, once signed into Steam.