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1. Survival Games Mac

If you ask Mac gamers to name one survival game, you’ll probably hear Ark: Survival Evolved… a lot. That’s because in Ark, if you survive long enough, you get to tame, control and even ride dinosaurs and other prehistoric beasts. And while its focus is on multiplayer, it also includes a single-player offline mode.

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In Ark, you survive and thrive by collecting resources, crafting items, taming animals including the aforementioned dinosaurs, forming or joining tribes and fighting off the other humans on the island. If you’re good enough, you can advance to upgrading your dinosaurs with lasers. Really.

But this is a persistent world, where (bad) things keep happening even when you’re away from the game. You’ve been warned.

In this review:

And it’s not just hard to survive in Ark, it’s also known for being hard on your computer, so our tests this week are focusing on our more powerful Macs. Does your Mac have what it takes? As always, we’re here to help you figure that out.

And as we always do, we will be testing the game on several different Macs, with a focus on higher-end models. Also, note that in multiplayer you’ll need a good internet connection to keep from dealing with literally deadly lag.

First things first, is the game any good?

After being on Steam Early Access for two years, Ark: Survival Evolved was finally released in August of 2017.

While a popular game as far as having a large user base (obviously important for a multiplayer game), Ark: Survival Evolved received mixed reviews.

Players like the depth of the game and its open world, but excessive grinding and a hostile environment for new players on public servers take away some of the fun.

The game has a 70/100 Metascore, which is ok, and 68% positive reviews on Steam from almost 150,000 users.

A closer look at the reviews reveals the mixed feelings players have about the game. TJ Hafer’s detailed review at IGN concluded:

ARK: Survival Evolved has some great moments of battle with prehistoric beasts, but just as many of AI bugs and grind.

Ian Birnbaum at PC Gamer largely agreed:

Feeling real fear in a game—fear of failure, fear of loss—can be really fun. Escaping that fear can be dramatic, and the tragedy of almost getting away can be unforgettable. But when so much of Ark is grinding drudgery, the consequences of its unforgiving style are hard to enjoy.

My Take: Ark: Survival Evolved is a survival game with some real strengths and some significant weaknesses. If you’re willing to put in the time, and die and lose your work over and over again, you can rise to a level where things get really fun.

But if you’re not willing to put up with the grind and the established user base, it may be too frustrating of a game for you.

Into first-person shooters? These are our favorites:

Ark: Survival Evolved Mac requirements

These are Ark: Survival Evolved’s Mac system requirements (minimum):

Checking system requirements is particularly important for extremely demanding games such as this one. Unless you have a high-end Mac, you’d be wise to pay extra attention to the game’s requirements…

The Test: Can you run Ark: Survival Evolved on Mac?

So you’ve decided you’re willing, but is your Mac up to the challenge?

To evaluate how well Ark: Survival Evolved runs, we’ll test it on these models:

• iMac (5K, 27-inch, Mid-2017): 3.8 GHz Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM, AMD Radeon Pro 580 (8GB)
• iMac (5K, 27-inch, Late 2014): 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM, AMD Radeon R9 M290X (2GB)
• MacBook Pro (15-inch, Touch/Mid-2017): 2.9 GHz Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM, AMD Radeon Pro 560 (4 GB)
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2016): 2.0 GHz Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM, Intel Iris Graphics 540 (1.5GB)
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2013): 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM, Intel Iris 5100 (1.5GB)

Be aware that Intel Integrated Graphics cards are not officially supported, but more on that below.

Why these machines? Our purpose is to help you understand how well this game runs on different setups. And hopefully, one of these setups will be similar enough to yours to give you a clear idea of what to expect. We usually have a more varied selection of hardware but as this is a highly demanding game, we will focus on high-end models this time:

• High-end Macs (the 2017 iMac, 2017 MacBook Pro, and 2014 iMac)
• Recent entry-level Macs (the 2016 MacBook Pro)
• Older Macs (the 2013 MacBook Pro)

These are the settings we used to test Ark: Survival Evolved using our in-house FPS counter Count It for a fixed duration of 5 minutes:

• 1280×800 or equivalent resolution
• Graphics Quality: Medium
• Single player, local game (i.e. internet connection is no longer a factor)

Why these settings? Remember, we are testing vastly different machines. Some high-end, some not. 1280×800 and Medium settings won’t impress anyone, but they are acceptable and should meet the requirements of the average gamer.

The Results: MacBook owners, stay away from this one…

We knew going in that the hardware requirements for Ark: Survival Evolved were challenging on the Mac side, and our results confirm that.

Recent Macs with dedicated graphics cards had no trouble with the game at our default setting, but everything else struggled at best.

As a reminder, this is how we describe the different levels of performance:

Can my Mac run Ark: Survival Evolved?

There’s no question that a high-end Mac can play this game at our default settings. Frame rates of 49 FPS (2014 iMac) and 81 (2017 iMac) put our iMacs in the Smooth and Very Smooth range respectively, while our 2017 15-inch MacBook Pro (using the dedicated graphics card) hit a barely Playable 30 FPS.

While these are OK results for a game known to be demanding and poorly optimized for the Mac (more on that below), we still would have hoped a brand new iMac could have blown the FPS out of water on medium settings. And a brand new MacBook Pro barely hitting playable on medium settings is disappointing, to say the least.

This is what can be expected when turning the settings to high:

Takeaway: If you have a high-end Mac, you can expect to play this game at our default settings with no problem, and you can probably bump things up a bit and still have a silky smooth experience. But playing the game at maximum settings may be outside the reach of anything but a tricked out iMac Pro.

Can you play Ark: Survival Evolved on a MacBook Pro?

Things get tricky here, as they often do with more demanding games. Our 2016 MacBook Pro was nearly Borderline at 19 FPS with our default settings. With settings turned to the minimum it was firmly in the Borderline range at 27 FPS. While this is not ideal it indicates that the game should be playable on newer machines with integrated graphics.

Ultimately it’s a decision for you whether you want to spend your time and money on a game you’ll have to play at very low graphics settings.

Survival Games Mac

Takeaway: If you have a recent Mac with an integrated chipset you may find the game playable. We hit high Borderline on a 2016 13-inch MacBook Pro with all the settings at their minimum. Whether that’s an acceptable tradeoff is up to you. How much do you want to ride those dinosaurs?

But what if you have an older Mac?

As you’d expect, the news gets worse. Our 2013 13-inch MacBook Pro stayed firmly in the Unplayable range, maxing out at 15.5 FPS with all the settings on minimum. If you have an older Mac with a dedicated graphics card, however, there’s a good chance you’ll be in better shape.

The difference between our 2014 iMac and 2013 MacBook Pro indicates that it’s the graphics card that’s doing much of the heavy lifting here, and a look at Ark’s system requirements (see below) indicates that even older machines with a dedicated card might well be fine.

Takeaway: Our older Macs with integrated graphics were unable to even approach the Playable range with our default settings and lowering those settings to the minimum didn’t move the needle enough to put this game close to Playable range. Sorry, you’re out of luck with this one.

Bottom line: Ark: Survival Evolved is demanding on hardware and does not seem to be well optimized for Macs. You’ll need a computer with a dedicated graphics card to get the most out of this game. A newer (last 2-3 years) Mac with integrated graphics should be able to make Ark playable but at low graphics settings.

Perhaps Rust, the other big MacOS survival shooter, will be better optimized. We shall see in an upcoming Performance review…

Note: While Metal support was said to be coming to Ark, the last mention of that was in December of 2016; repeated requests for updates have gone unanswered.

Download Ark: Survival Evolved for Mac

Survival Evolved is available for download from all the major digital stores including Steam and Humble Bundle.

Ark: Survival Evolved Mac Review

Ark: Survival Evolved is one of the most popular online survival games out there. While the reviews are mixed, they all agree that there are some great gameplay elements. And DINOSAURS! Unfortunately, its high hardware demands severely limit the Macs that can run it.

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.

There are literally hundreds of games that have the 'survival' tag, yet only a bunch are really worth purchasing. We've played through many of them and will now run through a select few we feel you should add to your game library.

Terraria ($9.99) is a game that still manages to grab thousands of players at a time on Steam alone, even though the title was originally released seven years ago. What makes this game so popular (and managed to sell millions of copies) is how addictive the gameplay is. We have a stunning pixelated art style, matched with intense and fluid combat, unique bosses and enemies, expansive crafting system, Hardcore and Expert modes to add more of a challenge, and more.

The best of Terraria comes about when you have a few players on a private server. It's even better if you're all bloody useless at the game and continue dying to Cthulhu.

Subnautica

Subnautica ($24.99) is a game that blew me away on first firing up the title. It's a survival game with a twist: You're in the ocean. Not only will you need to go through the usual crafting processes, but there are beasts located beneath the surface that do not take kindly to your presence. It's just a shame you need to construct underwater bases, right?

The story revolves around your ship crashing on a strange planet, and there's a mystery surrounding what caused the accident and what happened to this world. The end goal is to make your way off the planet, but there are many dangers on your path to escape. I'm holding out for multiplayer.

Minecraft

Sure, Minecraft ($26.99) isn't technically a dedicated survival game, nor is it really that difficult to survive. But you have to combat monsters in survival mode, and you are tasked with crafting items and building a home so we figured it was only right we added it to our round-up. Chances are, you already own a copy of Minecraft or already know what it's about, but should you be new to the game it's essentially a Java-based block building simulator and crafting-survival and multiplayer Frankenstein.

Minecraft is now owned by Microsoft and is continually updated with new improvements. Whether you wish to build a recreation of your hometown in a virtual world or gear up and take on the Ender Dragon, the block world really is your oyster.

The Long Dark

The Long Dark (about $35) tasks you with surviving the aftermath of a global geomagnetic disaster. Located in the Canadian wilderness, you need to tackle aggressive animals, deal with blizzards and other dynamic weather patterns, plan for the nights ahead, and spend hours in the crafting system. While the survival elements of the game are pretty good, the story is a letdown in its current state.

It's also a very, very pretty game.

Starbound

Starbound (about $15) is an interesting and quirky little game that takes the similar formula of Terriara and takes gameplay to the stars and beyond. As well as being able to mine planets for resources, explore ruins, caverns and other points of interest, Starbound sports a story of sorts and quest generation. The game itself makes use of procedurally-generated worlds and other content, making each playthrough a unique experience.

When you've had enough of doing everything on your own, it's possible to fire up a server and invite a bunch of friends to join you on your adventures.

The Forest

After surviving a plane crash on a remote island, it's of great importance to survey the land, build shelter, hunt for food and craft items. The only problem is you're not alone in The Forest ($14.99), and I'm not talking about local wildlife. There are horrors that will leave you be, should you rather live in peace and not be disturbed (just try to steer clear of them and don't make it obvious you exist on the island) or you can venture into the unknwon.

But beware: A clan of genetic mutant enemies that has beliefs, families, and morals has already made this their home, and you're trespassing.

Rust

You wake up as a naked individual, and the aim of the game in Rust ($19.99) is to survive. You'll be tasked with building a home, hunting for food, collecting resources and forming alliances with other players. Rust was released in 2013 but has since been rebuilt from the ground up, had a bunch of improvements implemented, and it still hosts an active community.

From crafting items and weapons, to building a fortress, running a shop and launching all out warfare on an unsuspecting clan, if you need something a little more focused on surviving in a multiplayer environment, this is the game for you.

Don't Starve

Don't Starve is an excellent title that really challenges you to make the most of a bad situation, and you will encounter many dire instances in Don't Starve. After the game was released, the community demanded multiplayer support and the developer responded with a separate game that offered online play. This is where the game gets really interesting as you team up with friends or random players to survive the night. And the night is terrifying.

All this is yours for $14.99 a piece (the multiplayer and single-player experiences are different listings).

How do you survive?

What are your favorite survival games? Do you agree with our shortlist? Sound off in the comments.

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