And the Mac hasn't been left out of the equation — some popular MOBAs run natively on the Mac. Here's a roundup of the best ones you can get right now. What's more, all of them are free to play, so it won't cost you a dime to try them out.
First, for the uninitiated, let's answer the obvious question: What, precisely, is a MOBA?
The 20 best iOS games of 2014. It’s also great, as this free-to-play mobile take on the booming multiplayer online battle arena. The 10 best Mac games of 2019. Top 150 best Steam games released in 2014, according to gamer reviews. Despite representing a historical segment, this ranking is subject to change as votes change and old games.
MOBAs are real=time strategy games that involve multiple players divided into teams. Each player typically controls a single champion or hero character that leads others — computer-controlled minions — into combat. Teams square off and try to destroy or control each other's in-game structures in order to win.
MOBAs combine elements of action games and strategy games together, and have become a popular pastime for gamers looking for fun, challenging ways to team up with friends (and sometimes complete strangers) online.
Blizzard Entertainment's seminal strategy game Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos is often pointed to as the seed for the current MOBA craze. An active community of modders — hobbyists and programmers interested in expanding the capabilities of the game — took to Warcraft III, and one in particular, a fellow who went by the nom de mod of Eul, created Defense of the Ancients, a specialized map for the game modeled after another popular map for another Blizzard strategy game, StarCraft. Since then MOBAs have existed both as mods for other game and as entirely standalone projects. So without further ado:
League of Legends
Riot Games' League of Legends is nothing short of a phenomenon. Since it debuted in 2009 it's garnered millions of fans worldwide. For a long time Mac gamers were left out of the loop but the developer finally graced the Mac with a client in 2013. (Don't be scared off by the seemingly permanent 'beta' status of the Mac client.)
League comprised well more than 100 different champions, each with different strengths, strategies and weaknesses. Players fight each other to gain experience and to win gold, which they can use to buy items to strengthen their champions. A variety of game modes exist and Riot is constantly improving and tweaking both gameplay and the in-game characters, which leads to constant new challenges. And it's paid off: At peak times, more than 7 million players can be playing simultaneously. League is the focus of professional gaming tournaments, too.
League is free to download and play. Riot makes money from the sale of Riot Points (RP), which help players get ahead in the game.
- Free - Download now
Dota 2
I mentioned Defense of the Ancients at the outset. Dota 2 is its proper sequel, developed by Valve Corp. As a result, it's available for download from Valve's popular Steam online game matching and download service.
The classic elements of MOBA gameplay are here: Two teams of five players each, each of which occupy a base at a corner of the map. Teams are divided into The Radiant and The Dire. The Ancient is a building inside each base that must be protected or you lose the game. Players have over 100 different Heroes to choose from, each with different strengths and weaknesses. Combat provides experience, which levels the character up, enabling players to imbue their Hero with better statistics and new skills.
Dota 2 has been criticized for having a steeper learning curve that League does, and my experience has been that the Mac client doesn't run very well on systems that are on the lower side of its system requirements, but that hasn't stopped it from being very popular: Dota 2 gets close to a million players at peak times.
- Free - Download now
Heroes of Newerth
S2 Games' Heroes of Newerth squares players off into two factions: The Legion and the Hellbourne. Each team has to either destroy the World Tree or Sacrificial Shrine (depending on which faction you're fighting), or force the other team to concede defeat. There are different game modes, more than 120 heroes to master, and more.
Newerth was heavily influenced by the original Defense of the Ancients, though S2 Games developed it independently of DotA. The game remains fiercely independent. While Riot is the 800 pound gorilla and Dota 2 gets lots of attention because of Valve's involvement, S2 has done very well over the years, but its player base is much smaller. That's not a bad thing; the game continues to do well and get new players all the time.
- Free - Download now
SmashMuck Champions
A relative new entry to the MOBA market, SmashMuck Champions lets you play as absolutely weird heroes like a robot shark and a platypus unicorn. It's got a great sense of humor and some truly wacky design, and its creators cite its 'community driven development process' as a plus as well. Classic team-based play is here, though SmashMuck looks and plays a bit differently than the other MOBAs listed above, with five different game modes that include a capture the flag mode, tower defense mode, control point capture and more.
There's a more limited selection of champions to choose from, but more than 600 customizable items keep it interesting, along with daily challenge and alliance-based achievements.
- Free - Download now
Happy gaming
Hopefully these will get some of you started down the road of MOBA play. Are you already an avid MOBA fan? I'm sure I've left out a few that play well on the Mac without relying on a Windows partition. If I've left off your favorite or if you have any comments or suggestions, lay 'em on me.
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Flight simulators and aircraft combat games serve a solid niche for those of us that like to take to the skies when we're not doing other things with our computers. Here's a roundup of the top ones you can download today, with prices from free to reasonable and the focus from arcade-style action to ultra-realistic flight sim. They're not only great games, they're some of the best Mac games you can find.
X-Plane is without peer on the Mac. Calling X-Plane a game isn't just wrong, but it's insulting: X-Plane is the definitive flight simulator for the platform. Intricately detailed, it's also incredibly scalable - X-Plane runs on mobile, oz77n home Macs and PCs, and also operates as a detailed professional-grade aviation simulator.
More than 30 aircraft are available in the default installation: You can fly everything from a single-engine Cessna 172 — the most popular airplane in the world — to a B-2 bomber. The app models fixed and rotary wing aircraft both, along with tons of atmospheric conditions that affect flight. It even simulates what'd be like to fly the Space Shuttle. More than 1,400 additional aircraft models can be downloaded online. And you can fly almost anywhere: Land at more than 33,000 airports worldwide, touch down on an aircraft carrier and more.
A free demo is available, so don't let the price tag scare you off. Given the incredible level of detail and the huge ecosystem that supports X-Plane, it's well worth the money if you take your flight simulation seriously.
- $59.99 - Download now
FlightGear
Best Mac Multiplayer Games 2014 Online
An open source flight simulator, FlightGear is a bit more do-it-yourself than some of the other apps in this list, but it's still remarkable and definitely worth checking out. You download the central app, airplane models and scenery separately. Hundreds of aircraft models are available for download.
Best Mac Multiplayer Games 2014 List
FlightGear's rough open source edges show, but if you're a developer or a code tinkerer, there's fun to be had here. And for everyone else, plenty of fun airplanes to fly and scenery to explore.
- Free - Download now
WarBirds
Total Sims' WarBirds flight combat game has going since 1995. Take to the skies behind the yoke of dozens of legendary World War II-era aircraft. Single player mode consists of 20 training modules, 12 instant missions, and five different Free Flight modes. What's more, you can play offline for free, for as long as you want.
But the real meat of this game is in online play, which does incur a monthly fee to continue to play. You go on raids with squadrons of other real-world players as you reenact many famous battles of World War II. Total Sims is a bit funky with their Mac support; their FAQs reference Apple's GameSprocket technology, which went out the door when Classic Mac OS gave way to OS X more than a decade ago. But it goes to show just how long WarBirds has been on the platform, too.
- $13.95 (monthly, free offline play) - Download now
Falcon 4.0: Allied Force
Graphic Simulations has been making flight sims for the Macintosh since the early 1990s. Falcon 4.0: Allied Force is the latest iteration of its classic F-16 Falcon flight simulator, taking you to the Balkans and the Korean peninsula for realistic combat missions.
Arm your aircraft with realistic weapons and ordnance, then fly missions deep into hostile territory with a dynamic campaign engine that changes things every time you play.
- $9.99 - Download now
Sky Gamblers: Storm Raiders
Atypical Games' entry is an absolute must if you want to dogfight World War II style. The game features terrific graphics and easy to understand gameplay. There are single-player missions here but where the game really shines is in multiplayer dogfighting combat, which has been the series' strength. A variety of different online game modes test your skill, like Capture The Flag and Last Man Standing.
Sky Gamblers supports iCloud and Game Center - any progress you make in game can be saved to the cloud. It also supports a joystick or gamepad, which is a must for any flight sim, as far as I'm concerned. $5 gets you plenty of game play, but there are in app purchases that let you unlock new customization features and new airplane models.
- $4.99 - Download now
F/18 Carrier Landing II Pro
It's obviously a port of a game that originated on iOS, but it's lots of fun regardless. Take off and land from aircraft carriers and airstrips in some of the most legendary combat aircraft flying: the F-A/18 Super Hornet, F-14 Super Tomcat, F-16 Fighting Falcon and MiG-29K are all represented, along with the Harrier, F35B Lightning II and more.
RORTOS calls itself maker of the most advanced flight sims for mobile, and they're pretty snazzy on the Mac too. More than thirty missions along with a half-dozen training missions and free flight so you can buzz around on your own with no agenda.
- $5.99 - Download now
Heads up, virtual pilots — what'd I leave out?
This is my list of favorites right now, but I'm sure I've left some off that you love too. Feel free to let me know in the comments!
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(PRODUCT)REDApple is now redirecting (PRODUCT)RED purchases to COVID‑19 relief fund
Now through September 30, Apple is redirecting 100% of a portion of (PRODUCT)RED purchases to the Global Fund’s COVID‑19 Response.