5 Awesome Free iMac Games
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No Games in the Shops = Free Games Online

Free games are free games, whichever way you look at it… except, of course, that some free games are better than others.

Mac users get a bit of a raw deal with gaming – their hardware is up to the task of playing games and they can often have a great choice from the top titles… but that’s it. There are plenty of top games that were never released for Mac, only Windows, and while games like The Sims are almost made for Mac, other games that are available for this platform aren’t.

This is one of the main reasons why so many users look for free iMac games – because there is nothing available for them on the shelves at PC World or on Amazon.

Even with the release of Steam for Mac, there are few options for Mac users – but this shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Thanks to the lack of decent titles for Mac gamers, many open source projects have been developed – and some of them are superb!

Free iMac Puzzle Game

To kick off, let’s choose a puzzle game – Enigma, to be precise. This game is inspired by 16 bit classic Oxyd and has a simple aim. All you need to do is guide one or more marbles through 1000 levels.

It sounds quite a challenge and apparently only one person has managed to complete the game to date, making this one awesome free iMac game to try and complete!

Get your free copy of Enigma from www.nongnu.org/enigma.

Free iMac FPS

Nexuiz, one of many free iMac games

The unusually named Nexuiz is a free FPS (first person shooter) for Mac OS X (PowerPC included) and features combat across 24 official maps with a choice of 13 weapons. Additional maps have been created by the user community, as have alternative character models.

Using the Quake gaming engine, Nexuiz brings fast and furious sidearm combat to iMac for free – and it really is a fast paced game that FPS fans won’t want to miss out on.

Get your copy of Nexuiz from www.alientrap.org/nexuiz.

Free iMac Strategy Game

FreeCiv, one of many free iMac games

There is only one free iMac strategy game anyone reading this list should be looking at – FreeCiv.

This is an open source clone of the Sid Meier classic Civilization II, which over the years has developed into a game of its own (the most recent version, Civilization 5, was released in late 2010). As aims go, this one is simple – form a tribe, settle and farm land, research technology and basically become the dominant civilization on Earth! Various difficulty levels are available, and this version of the classic game is definitely worth spending the time on.

Even if your Mac isn’t up to the task of playing FreeCiv (unlikely) you can still play it via the browser – get your copy or play online via www.freeciv.net.

Free iMac Racing Game

TORCS, one of many free iMac games

Several open source racing games are available for iMac (and other platforms) and TORCS is probably the most in depth, offering a choice of 50 cars and over 20 tracks.

Different racing views are available, and the range of courses goes from dirt to cross-country to standard tarmac. A map displays your position on the course, as well as displaying speed, revs and fuel and time information. TORCS is a fast and free iMac racing game.

Get your copy of TORCS from torcs.sourceforge.net.

Free iMac Space Combat Game

Vega Strike, one of many free iMac games

Classic 1980s game Elite was the first to combine space combat with trading, and that addictive combination is repeated here with Vega Strike. The idea is to trade and complete missions – the resulting revenue can then be used to upgrade your ship and weapons.

Various versions of Vega Strike are available, such as one set in the Star Trek universe. Crucially, this game is available for PowerPC Mac users, and comes in a 540MB download.

Get your copy of Vega Strike from vegastrike.sourceforge.net.

(Images via corresponding links)