Does Salt and Sanctuary run on Mac?

Salt and Sanctuary isn't native, but it runs well through CrossOver — a Windows compatibility layer that translates DirectX into Metal on Apple Silicon.

Can I play Salt and Sanctuary on an M1/M2/M3 MacBook?

Yes. On an M1/M2/M3 MacBook the best route is CrossOver, which works across the whole Apple Silicon line.

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CrossOver

How to play Salt and Sanctuary on Mac

Action / Indie / RPG · 2016

Plays smoothly through CrossOver on Apple Silicon.

Overall rating: Runs great on Mac · 97% of 246 players say it runs well

Your setup

Detect your Mac to see whether Salt and Sanctuary will run.

Plays smoothly through CrossOver on Apple Silicon.

How to run Salt and Sanctuary on your Mac in 2026

Best path: CrossOver

CrossOver runs Salt and Sanctuary natively on Apple Silicon by translating DirectX to Metal. One-click install, no Windows VM, full local performance.

Method	Quality	Difficulty	Cost
CrossOverPick	Good	Medium	$74 / $39/yr	Get it ↗
Parallels	Estimate	Medium	$99/yr	Get it ↗
Boosteroid	Estimate	Easy	$9.95 /mo	Get it ↗
32 bit	Estimate	Medium	—

Get CrossOver Try Parallels Buy on AllKeyShop See all methods & install guide ↓

Salt and Sanctuary

Metacritic

8.0

Metacritic Users

Salt and Sanctuary is a grim 2D action RPG blending challenging Souls-like combat with sprawling, interconnected level design. Explore a desolate island kingdom filled with brutal foes and discover a deep, dark world of mystery and despair.

Salt and Sanctuary has a native Apple Silicon build — download it directly and play without any extra software. The original macOS build is 32-bit and will not launch on macOS Catalina (10.15) or newer, including Apple Silicon Macs. Use CrossOver or cloud streaming to play it on a modern Mac.

Buy on AllKeyShop See how to play it on your Mac

What the world thinks

Performance

How Salt and Sanctuary runs on your Mac, from our performance model and player reports.

See exactly how Salt and Sanctuary will run on your Mac

Pick your chip and RAM for a personalised estimate.

Best way to play it on Mac

Buy on AllKeyShop See how to play it on your Mac

See if this is the right method for your setup

Ways to play Salt and Sanctuary on Mac

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

Recommended

CrossOver

One-click local install, official support.

Difficulty: EasyCost: $17.99Good

Try CrossOver free for 14 days How to set up ↓

Parallels

Full Windows 11 ARM inside macOS.

Difficulty: MediumCost: $99/year + Windows licenceEstimate

Try Parallels Desktop free How to set up ↓

Boosteroid

Needs 25+ Mbps internet, wired ideal.

Difficulty: EasyCost: $9.95 / monthEstimate

Get Boosteroid How to set up ↓

32 bit

Alternative way to play.

Difficulty: MediumCost: —Estimate

How to set up ↓

Compare methods at a glance

Lower = better

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

Method

Setup Difficulty

Time Investment

Performance Overhead

CrossOverTranslationTop pick
Setup
Moderate
Time
15 min
Overhead
Medium
BoosteroidCloud
Setup
Simple
Time
5 min
Overhead
Low
ParallelsVM
Setup
Moderate
Time
30 min
Overhead
High

Where to buy Salt and Sanctuary

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 Salt and Sanctuary on Mac with CrossOver

Good· Compatibility

Running Salt and Sanctuary through CrossOver translates its Windows DirectX calls into Metal on Apple Silicon — no reboot, no Windows license, no virtual machine. Most setup time is spent on first-time bottle configuration and installing the game launcher (Steam, Epic, etc.) inside CrossOver. Once that's done, launching feels close to native. Expect 15–30 minutes of setup on the first run.

Step-by-step

Step 1 — Create a bottle

Open CrossOver → click New Bottle
Name it after the game (e.g. Salt and Sanctuary) and choose Windows 10 64-bit
Open the bottle's Settings and set:

- Graphics: D3DMetal (not DXVK)

- Synchronization: ESync

- High Resolution Mode: Off

Step 2 — Install the game launcher

Inside CrossOver, click Install Application → search for Steam (or Epic Games Launcher if you own it there)
Install it into the same bottle you just created
Launch Steam, log in, and let it fully update before proceeding

Step 3 — Install and launch Salt and Sanctuary

Open Steam (or your launcher) inside CrossOver
Install Salt and Sanctuary through the launcher as normal
Launch the game — use the launcher's Play button, not CrossOver directly
First launch may take 30–90 seconds to show a window. Don't force-quit unless it hangs for several minutes.

Step 4 — If you hit issues

Black screen / stuck in small window: go to Settings → Graphics in-game, set Screen Type to Fullscreen, then restart
Resolution resets on every launch: find the game's config/settings file and set the resolution values manually, then mark the file Read-Only to prevent the game overwriting it
Crashes on startup: try switching the bottle's Synchronization from ESync to MSync, or vice versa

Video proof

Try CrossOver free for 14 days ↗Affiliate link — supports the site at no extra cost.

How to run Salt and Sanctuary on Mac with Parallels

Estimate· Compatibility

Using Parallels to play Salt and Sanctuary 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 Salt and Sanctuary.
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.

How to run Salt and Sanctuary on Mac with Boosteroid

Estimate· Streaming

Streaming Salt and Sanctuary through Boosteroid is the fastest way to start playing on a Mac — there's nothing to install, no Windows VM, no compatibility layer. The game runs on a remote GPU and your Mac just receives the video, which means even a base M1 MacBook Air can play the most demanding AAA titles at high settings. The tradeoff is that you need a stable internet connection (ideally wired or 5GHz Wi-Fi with 25+ Mbps down) and a subscription.

Step-by-step

Create a Boosteroid account and pick a plan.
Use the web client or download the macOS app.
Add Salt and Sanctuary from their library (you'll need to own it on Steam/Epic).

Video proof

Get Boosteroid ↗Affiliate link — supports the site at no extra cost.

How to run Salt and Sanctuary on Mac with 32 bit

Estimate· Compatibility

Here's how to set up 32 bit to play Salt and Sanctuary on your Mac.

Step-by-step

Setup guide coming soon.

Video proof

Our recommendation

For most Mac players we recommend CrossOver as the fastest, smoothest way to play Salt and Sanctuary. One-click local install, official support.

Method	Quality	Difficulty	Cost
CrossOverPick	Good	Medium	$74 one-time / $39/year
Parallels	Estimate	Medium	$99/year + Windows licence
Boosteroid	Estimate	Easy	$9.95 / month
32 bit	Estimate	Medium	—

How to play Salt and Sanctuary on Mac

Best path: CrossOver

Salt and Sanctuary

What the world thinks

Performance

Ways to play Salt and Sanctuary on Mac

CrossOver

Parallels

Boosteroid

32 bit

Compare methods at a glance

Where to buy Salt and Sanctuary

Platform-by-platform reliability

Step-by-step setup guides

How to run Salt and Sanctuary on Mac with CrossOver

Step-by-step

Video proof

How to run Salt and Sanctuary on Mac with Parallels

Step-by-step

Video proof

How to run Salt and Sanctuary on Mac with Boosteroid

Step-by-step

Video proof

How to run Salt and Sanctuary on Mac with 32 bit

Step-by-step

Video proof

Our recommendation

Comments

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