Is it possible to play High On Life on Mac?
High On Life is a first-person shooter game from Squanch Games. Notably, this game development studio was founded by Justin Roiland, one of the people behind Rick & Morty. Justin has been heavily involved in the development of High On Life; many promotional materials for the game proudly advertise this fact. The story of the game is, perhaps unsurprisingly, both zany and mature. For quite some time, many scientists have pointed out that an alien invasion is not a very realistic scenario. What would an advanced civilization want from us? They can easily obtain any resources they need elsewhere, and, surely, they would have no need for slaves. High On Life has its own answer for this question; in the game, aliens invade Earth because they want to use humans as drugs. In an unlikely turn of events, the task of protecting humanity falls onto the shoulders of a good-for-nothing, unemployed high school graduate. Equipped with an arsenal of talking guns, he must make sure that no human will be powdered and snorted. Officially, this game can be played only on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Microsoft Windows. However, it is possible to play High On Life on Mac as well; the procedure will be explained in the guide below.
System Requirements
| Minimal | Recommended |
|---|---|
| OS: Windows 10 (64-bit) | OS: Windows 10 (64-bit) |
| Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4430K CPU @ 3.00GHz (4 CPUs) | Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6402p CPU @ 2.80GHz (4 CPUs) / AMD Ryzen 5 2600 (3.4 GHz) |
| RAM: 8 GB | RAM: 8 GB |
| Video card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (3GB)/AMD Radeon R9 290x (4GB) | Video card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (6GB)/AMD RX 5600 XT (6GB) |
| DirectX: Version 11 | DirectX: Version 12 |
| Storage: 50 GB | Storage: 50 GB |
Play High On Life on Mac with Parallels
High On Life requires lots of PC resources, but if you have a powerful Mac computer (iMac, iMac Pro, or Mac Pro) Parallels Desktop can be a solution. This is an application that allows for Windows virtualization on Mac with the full support of DirectX and GPUs. In simpler terms, what this means is that it allows you to install Windows 10 on Mac with just a couple of clicks and switch between MacOS and Windows instantly. So you will be able to run Windows, install Steam, and enjoy the High On Life game on Mac just like on a regular PC.
Please note that not all games are supported by Parallels. Several conditions must be met for the game to be playable. Your Mac must exceed minimum system requirements for the game; meeting them is not enough. Generally speaking, you will need an iMac Pro or a Mac Pro to run demanding games. Some MacBook Pro and iMac models are also suitable; they must have an Intel processor, a discrete graphics card and at least 16 GB of RAM. If your Mac has an Apple Silicon chip (such as M1, M2, M3), you may experience issues playing modern games. Games that require DirectX 12 are currently not supported by Parallels. AppsOnMac recommends using Parallels’ free trial feature to determine whether you can run the game or not if you’re uncertain.
Play High On Life on Mac with cloud gaming services
If you have an old Mac or it cannot satisfy the High On Life game system requirements, there is an easy solution. Cloud gaming services will be happy to provide you with sufficient computing power – though not for free, of course. All you need is a browser or a small client program and a good internet connection starting from 15 MBit/s. There are several great platforms that provide these services, among the best are Boosteroid, Xbox Cloud Gaming, and Nvidia GeForce Now. As Boosteroid has High On Life in its game library, it is an excellent choice for those seeking to try the game out.
Play High On Life on Mac with BootCamp
Note: Mac computers with new Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3 Pro, or M1, M2, M3 Max) currently do not support BootCamp. In this case, please, use the options above to run High On Life on Mac
This method is simple but time-consuming. If your Mac meets all the system requirements above, you can play High On Life on Mac by installing Windows. You need to set up a dual boot of Windows and Mac via BootCamp. This is an application that allows users to choose the system to work in on startup, however, you won’t be able to switch between systems like in Parallels. You will need to reboot your machine every time you want to switch from Mac to Windows and vice versa. Remember that Mac is just a computer, in the end. And while newer Macs have their own special Apple Silicon chips that cannot run Windows, older Macs are very much similar to computers that run Windows, they have Intel processors, compatible RAM, disks, and other components. So you can install Windows on an older Mac by allocating no less than 64 GB of disk space (to be able to run Windows and a couple of games) and following these steps:
For OS X El Capitan 10.11 and older
For MacOS versions prior to OS X El Capitan 10.11 you will need to create a bootable Windows USB.
- Download this Windows ISO file.
- Open Boot Camp Assistant (Go to Applications > Utilities).
- Define the Windows partition size and choose the Windows ISO file you’ve downloaded.
- Format the Windows partition and go through all Windows installation steps.
- When Windows boots for the first time follow on-screen instructions to install Boot Camp and Windows support software (drivers)