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Parallels

How to play Just Shapes & Beats on Mac

Action / Indie · 2018

Best in a Windows 11 ARM virtual machine via Parallels.

Overall rating: Runs great on Mac · 100% of 1 players say it runs well

Your setup
Detect your Mac to see whether Just Shapes & Beats will run.

Best in a Windows 11 ARM virtual machine via Parallels.

How to run Just Shapes & Beats on your Mac in 2026

Best path: Parallels

Should run in a Windows 11 ARM virtual machine (Parallels). This is an estimate — not a verified report. Demanding 3D titles may need lower settings.

  • Heads up on Parallels: Estimated compatibility — no verified report yet
MethodQualityDifficultyCost
ParallelsPickGoodMedium$99/yrGet it ↗

Just Shapes & Beats

"Just Shapes & Beats" is a chaotic co-op musical bullet-hell based on three simple things: avoid Shapes, move to the kick-ass Beats, and die, repeatedly.

Just Shapes & Beats runs flawlessly on Apple Silicon through Rosetta 2, providing a near-native experience with perfect controller support and high frame rates.

Just Shapes & Beats screenshot 1Just Shapes & Beats screenshot 2Just Shapes & Beats screenshot 3Just Shapes & Beats screenshot 4Just Shapes & Beats screenshot 5

What the world thinks

Performance

How Just Shapes & Beats runs on your Mac, from our performance model and player reports.

See exactly how Just Shapes & Beats will run on your Mac

Pick your chip and RAM for a personalised estimate.

Best way to play it on Mac

Just Shapes & Beats runs flawlessly on Apple Silicon through Rosetta 2, providing a near-native experience with perfect controller support and high frame rates.

See if this is the right method for your setup

Ways to play Just Shapes & Beats on Mac

Here are all the options available, ranked by what we recommend first.

Compare methods at a glance

Lower = better

How each supported method stacks up on setup effort, time and runtime overhead.

  • ParallelsVMTop pick
    Setup
    Moderate
    Time
    30 min
    Overhead
    High

Where to buy Just Shapes & Beats

Live prices compared across trusted PC key sellers — updates every few hours.

Platform-by-platform reliability

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Step-by-step setup guides

Idiot-proof walkthroughs for every method.

How to run Just Shapes & Beats on Mac with Parallels

Estimate· Compatibility

Using Parallels to play Just Shapes & Beats 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

  1. Buy / start a trial of Parallels Desktop.
  2. Install Windows 11 ARM via the one-click wizard.
  3. Inside Windows, install Steam / Xbox app and Just Shapes & Beats.
  4. Enable DirectX 11 in Parallels settings for best 3D performance.

Video proof

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Our recommendation

For most Mac players the best way to play Just Shapes & Beats on Mac is Parallels. Full Windows 11 ARM inside macOS.

MethodQualityDifficultyCost
ParallelsPickGoodMedium$99/year + Windows licence
Try Parallels Desktop free

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