Is it possible to play Stray on Mac?
A game surrounded by skyrocketed hype and anticipation has finally made its official release and is now up to grabs on digital stores. Stray is the name of this game rocking the charts with its iconic cat character that everyone is eager to play for. Abandoned and lost entirely alone in a mysterious and long-forgotten city, the stray cat controlled from a third-person perspective will have to unpuzzle the secrets and overcome challenges that hide ahead of the path. Strolling along the neon-light alleys in a gloomy and constantly decaying cyberpunk city, the cat will be heavily challenged to deal with various puzzles and dangerous creatures dwelling behind the shadows – and that is only the start! More awaits beyond as you advance with your drone companion named B12 who can translate the unknown language of robots and act as a portable chest for storing various items picked up throughout the road. Stray is a game with a focus on art, exploration, and details. Players can explore each dime of given locations to get more items and discover the mystery of cybercity. It is also about staying on high alert stealthily circumventing the dangers or even sometimes causing annoyance to city inhabitants. Delve into a full-blown and very unusual adventure with a well-written story and high-level graphics to get maximum satisfaction measure. Who could have thought that a small group of developers named BlueTwelve Studio would come up with an idea of such and bring it to reality for all? Well, that is what finally happened for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Microsoft Windows. However, considering the popularity that bubbled around this game, it is obvious there are also some macOS users that will feel dismayed from being unable to play it. Don’t worry as we are here to fix it and show how Stray can be played the same way, but on Mac as well!
Play Stray on Mac with Parallels
Stray 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 Stray game on Mac just like on a regular PC.
Note: Recommended devices to run resource-demanding games: MacBook Pro (models with an Intel processor, discrete graphics cards, and 16 GB of RAM or more), iMac (models with Intel processor, discrete graphics cards, and 16 GB of RAM or more), iMac Pro (all models are suitable), Mac Pro (all models are suitable). Parallels on Mac computers with M1 (M1 Pro, M1 Max) chips may not support recent games. Games that require DirectX 12 and later 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 Stray on Mac with Boosteroid
Update: Boosteroid now supports Stray. You can play this beautiful game on any Mac computer, old Windows PC or even Android! Explore cloud gaming now!
If you have an old Mac or it cannot satisfy the Stray 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.
Play Stray 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 Stray on Mac
This method is simple but time-consuming. If your Mac meets all the system requirements above, you can play Stray 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)
Stray does not run on Parallels using any M1 or M2-based Mac.