Native
Runs directly on Apple Silicon — no extra software.
Difficulty: EasyCost: $7.99Excellent
Native
How to play A Short Hike on Mac
Adventure · 2019
Runs natively on Apple Silicon — no extra software needed.
Overall rating: Runs great on Mac · 100% of 4 players say it runs well
Your setup
Detect your Mac to see whether A Short Hike will run.
Runs natively on Apple Silicon — no extra software needed.
How to run A Short Hike on your Mac in 2026
Best path: Native Mac build
A Short Hike has a native Apple Silicon build — full Metal acceleration, best battery life, zero faff.
A Short Hike
82
Metacritic
Hike, climb, and soar through the peaceful mountainside landscapes of Hawk Peak Provincial Park as you make your way to the summit.
A Short Hike is a native macOS application that runs perfectly on Apple Silicon with zero configuration required.
What the world thinks
Performance
How A Short Hike runs on your Mac, from our performance model and player reports.
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Best way to play it on Mac
A Short Hike is a native macOS application that runs perfectly on Apple Silicon with zero configuration required.
See if this is the right method for your setup
Ways to play A Short Hike on Mac
Here are all the options available, ranked by what we recommend first.
Parallels
Full Windows 11 ARM inside macOS.
Difficulty: MediumCost: $99/year + Windows licenceEstimate
Compare methods at a glance
Lower = betterHow each supported method stacks up on setup effort, time and runtime overhead.
Method
Setup Difficulty
Time Investment
Performance Overhead
- NativeNativeTop pickSetupSimpleTime5 minOverheadLow
- ParallelsVMSetupModerateTime30 minOverheadHigh
Where to buy A Short Hike
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Platform-by-platform reliability
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Step-by-step setup guides
Idiot-proof walkthroughs for every method.
How to run A Short Hike on Mac with Native
Excellent· NativeA Short Hike has a native Apple Silicon build, which is the gold standard for playing on a Mac. You get full Metal acceleration, best battery life, and no compatibility weirdness. Just buy it from the Mac App Store or Steam for Mac and play.
Step-by-step
- Use the verified store link on this page, or open the store where you already own A Short Hike.
- Confirm the product page lists macOS / Apple Silicon support.
- Install and launch — no extra tools needed.
Video proof
How to run A Short Hike on Mac with Parallels
Estimate· CompatibilityUsing Parallels to play A Short Hike means running a full copy of Windows 11 ARM inside macOS. This is the most "it just works" approach for games that don't behave under CrossOver, and DirectX 11 is hardware-accelerated. You'll need a Windows license and roughly 80 GB of disk space.
Step-by-step
- Buy / start a trial of Parallels Desktop.
- Install Windows 11 ARM via the one-click wizard.
- Inside Windows, install Steam / Xbox app and A Short Hike.
- Enable DirectX 11 in Parallels settings for best 3D performance.
Video proof
Try Parallels Desktop free ↗Affiliate link — supports the site at no extra cost.
Our recommendation
For most Mac players we recommend Native as the fastest, smoothest way to play A Short Hike. Runs directly on Apple Silicon — no extra software.
| Method | Quality | Difficulty | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| NativePick | Excellent | Easy | Game price only |
| Parallels | Estimate | Medium | $99/year + Windows licence |
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