How to play Manor Lords on Mac

Manor Lords is a medieval strategy game that has garnered significant attention and popularity due to its unique blend of city building and tactical combat. The game allows players to experience the life of a medieval lord, managing a village that can grow into a bustling city. Players must handle resources, production chains, and expand their lands through conquest. The game is noted for its historical accuracy, inspired by the art and architecture of late 14th century Franconia, which informs its gameplay mechanics and visuals. Regarding compatibility, Manor Lords is not available for macOS. The game’s system requirements specify that it needs Windows 10 or higher, thus it cannot be natively played on MacBooks or iMac desktops. For Mac users interested in playing Manor Lords, options like Boot Camp (Intel Macs) or Crossover (All Macs) allow Windows to run on Mac devices, but these solutions involve additional steps and may not provide an optimal gaming experience. As of now, there is no official support or version of Manor Lords for macOS, limiting its accessibility to users of Apple’s computing platforms. Another option is cloud gaming, Manor Lords is present on GeForce Now and can be also played on virtual PCs like Shadow PC or AirGPU.

1. Play Manor Lords on cloud gaming services (GeForce Now and AirGPU)

Cloud gaming platforms stream games from remote servers, offering high performance without demanding hardware. Cloud gaming services are expanding the accessibility of gaming by eliminating many of the traditional barriers, such as the need for constant hardware upgrades and the initial cost of games. As internet speeds increase and technology advances, cloud gaming continues to grow as a popular alternative to traditional console and PC gaming.

GeForce Now

GeForce Now is a cloud gaming service developed by NVIDIA that allows users to stream video games to their devices, leveraging NVIDIA’s powerful cloud-based GPU servers. This service enables gamers to play their own games from popular digital libraries such as Steam, Epic Games Store, and Uplay on virtually any device, including PCs, Macs, Shield TVs, and mobile devices. GeForce Now differentiates itself by not requiring users to purchase games from a specific library, instead allowing them to play games they already own, provided those games are supported on the service. It offers various membership tiers, including a free option and a premium subscription that provides enhanced graphics with RTX technology, reduced waiting times, and extended session lengths.

1. Register for a GeForce Now account on their website. Choose between free or premium plans.
2. Install the GeForce Now app on your chosen device (PC, Mac, or mobile).
3. Link your Blizzard account in the GeForce Now app to access Manor Lords.
4. Use the search feature in the app to locate Manor Lords.
5. Click Play on Manor Lords within the app to begin streaming the game.

AirGPU

AirGPU is a cloud gaming service that offers users the ability to rent high-performance virtual gaming PCs on demand. This platform enables gamers to stream the latest and most demanding games directly to their devices without the need for high-end local hardware. AirGPU provides a flexible rental model, allowing users to pay by the hour for access to powerful gaming rigs equipped with top-tier graphics and processing capabilities. The service supports a variety of devices including desktops, laptops, and some tablets, ensuring that users can enjoy a premium gaming experience from virtually anywhere. AirGPU stands out by offering personalized settings and configurations, giving gamers the freedom to customize their virtual machines to meet specific gaming needs.

1. Sign up at AirGPU and rent a high-performance virtual PC.
2. Connect to your cloud PC, install Manor Lords from any digital platform.
3. Enjoy the game with high-quality graphics.

2. Play Manor Lords with CrossOver via Steam

CrossOver is a software tool that enables users to run Windows applications on macOS and Linux without needing a Windows operating system license. It is based on the popular open-source Wine project and works by translating Windows API calls into POSIX calls on-the-fly, eliminating the performance and resource penalties of virtual machines. With CrossOver, users can seamlessly integrate Windows applications into their native environment, running them as if they were native applications on their Mac or Linux systems. This software is especially useful for those who need access to certain Windows-only programs for business, education, or gaming purposes, providing a streamlined and efficient solution without the complexity of dual-booting or maintaining a separate Windows installation. Here’s how to play Manor Lords using CrossOver through Steam:

1. Visit the CrossOver website, purchase the software, and download it. Install CrossOver on your Mac by dragging it into the Applications folder.
2. Open CrossOver, click Install a Windows Application, and select Steam from the list. Follow the prompts to install.
3. Launch Steam within CrossOver, log into your Steam account, find Manor Lords in the Steam store, and install it.
4. Navigate to the Library in Steam, find Manor Lords, and click Play to start your simulation.

Install a Windows Application -> Steam

Install Steam on Mac via Crossover

3. Use Boot Camp (for Intel-based Macs only)

Note: Boot Camp is not supported on Macs with M1/M2/M3 chips.

Boot Camp is a utility software included with macOS that allows users to install and run Windows on Macintosh computers in a dual-boot configuration. By partitioning the computer’s hard drive, Boot Camp enables a Mac to boot either into macOS or Windows, providing full system performance for Windows as it runs natively on the hardware. This solution is ideal for Mac users who need to run Windows applications that do not have macOS versions or who require the performance benefits of running certain programs directly on the hardware without virtualization overhead. Boot Camp simplifies the installation process, guiding users through the setup with step-by-step instructions and making it straightforward to switch between operating systems.

1. Get the Windows 10 ISO file (Windows 11 ISO file) from the Microsoft website. Choose the version that matches your license.
2. Find Boot Camp in the Utilities folder within your Applications. Open it to start the setup.
3. Use Boot Camp Assistant to allocate space on your hard drive for Windows. Follow the on-screen instructions to adjust the partition size.
4. Follow the prompts in Boot Camp Assistant to begin the Windows installation. Your Mac will reboot into the Windows setup.
5. During the Windows installation, choose the BOOTCAMP partition and format it.
6. Complete the installation by following the Windows setup instructions.
7. To switch between macOS and Windows, restart your Mac and hold the Option key to select the operating system you want to use.
8. Once Windows is installed, set up Manor Lords like on any PC.

Other methods

Manor Lords currently cannot be played on Parallels or VMWare virtual machines due to DirectX 12 requirement, that is not currently supported by these tools. At the time of writing this article, popular gaming service Boosteroid doesn’t have Manor Lords in the Game Library, however, due to numerous request it is in the short wishlist and can be added any time soon. In this case, it can become great option as it provides great service quality in US and Europe. Check it out!

There is also a possibility to play Manor Lords via Whisky, that is built on the same platform as Crossover, but is open-source and free. You can see the process and gameplay in the video below: