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CrossOver

How to play The Talos Principle 2 on Mac

Puzzle · 2023

Plays smoothly through CrossOver on Apple Silicon.

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Your setup
Detect your Mac to see whether The Talos Principle 2 will run.

Plays smoothly through CrossOver on Apple Silicon.

How to run The Talos Principle 2 on your Mac in 2026

Best path: CrossOver

CrossOver runs The Talos Principle 2 natively on Apple Silicon by translating DirectX to Metal. One-click install, no Windows VM, full local performance.

MethodQualityDifficultyCost
CrossOverPickGoodMedium$74 / $39/yrGet it ↗
ParallelsEstimateMedium$99/yrGet it ↗
BoosteroidEstimateEasy$9.95 /moGet it ↗
WhiskyEstimateMediumFreeGet it ↗
Game Porting ToolkitEstimateAdvancedFreeGet it ↗
Get CrossOver Try Parallels Buy on AllKeyShop See all methods & install guide ↓

The Talos Principle 2

The Talos Principle 2 is a thought-provoking first-person puzzle experience that greatly expands on the first game's philosophical themes and stunning environments with increasingly mind-bending challenges.

While not native, The Talos Principle 2 runs impressively well through CrossOver's D3DMetal layer, provided you have at least 16GB of RAM and use upscaling.

Buy on AllKeyShopSee how to play it on your Mac
The Talos Principle 2 screenshot 1The Talos Principle 2 screenshot 2The Talos Principle 2 screenshot 3The Talos Principle 2 screenshot 4The Talos Principle 2 screenshot 5The Talos Principle 2 screenshot 6

What the world thinks

  1. Install CrossOver: Download and install CrossOver 24 or later.
  2. Create a Bottle: Click 'Install' and search for 'Steam'. Create a new Windows 10/11 64-bit bottle.
  3. Enable High-End Options: In the right-hand sidebar of the Steam bottle settings, toggle D3DMetal (this uses the Game Porting Toolkit translation layer) and M-Series (MSync) to 'On'.
  4. Install Game: Launch Steam within the bottle, log in, and download The Talos Principle 2.
  5. Launch Settings: When launching, if prompted with a choice of DirectX versions, ensure you select DirectX 12.
  • Whisky (Free): Users on a budget can use Whisky, which provides a clean UI for the Game Porting Toolkit. Ensure your bottle is set to Windows 10 and that 'Enhanced Sync' (MSync) and 'DXVK' are disabled in favor of the 'Apple' (D3DMetal) toggle for UE5 compatibility.
  • Boosteroid (Cloud): If you are on an entry-level M1/M2 Air with 8GB RAM, the localized translation overhead might be too heavy. Streaming via Boosteroid or GeForce Now offers a 1080p/60fps experience without stressing your local hardware, provided you have a stable internet connection.

Performance

How The Talos Principle 2 runs on your Mac, from our performance model and player reports.

See exactly how The Talos Principle 2 will run on your Mac

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Best way to play it on Mac

While not native, The Talos Principle 2 runs impressively well through CrossOver's D3DMetal layer, provided you have at least 16GB of RAM and use upscaling.

Buy on AllKeyShopSee how to play it on your Mac
See if this is the right method for your setup

Ways to play The Talos Principle 2 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.

  • CrossOverTranslationTop pick
    Setup
    Moderate
    Time
    15 min
    Overhead
    Medium
  • BoosteroidCloud
    Setup
    Simple
    Time
    5 min
    Overhead
    Low
  • WhiskyTranslation
    Setup
    Moderate
    Time
    15 min
    Overhead
    Medium
  • ParallelsVM
    Setup
    Moderate
    Time
    30 min
    Overhead
    High
  • Game Porting ToolkitTranslation
    Setup
    Complex
    Time
    30 min
    Overhead
    Medium

Where to buy The Talos Principle 2

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 The Talos Principle 2 on Mac with CrossOver

Good· Compatibility

Running The Talos Principle 2 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

  1. Open CrossOver → click New Bottle
  2. Name it after the game (e.g. The Talos Principle 2) and choose Windows 10 64-bit
  3. Open the bottle's Settings and set:

- Graphics: D3DMetal (not DXVK)

- Synchronization: ESync

- High Resolution Mode: Off

Step 2 — Install the game launcher

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

Step 3 — Install and launch The Talos Principle 2

  1. Open Steam (or your launcher) inside CrossOver
  2. Install The Talos Principle 2 through the launcher as normal
  3. Launch the game — use the launcher's Play button, not CrossOver directly
  4. 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 The Talos Principle 2 on Mac with Parallels

Estimate· Compatibility

Using Parallels to play The Talos Principle 2 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 The Talos Principle 2.
  4. 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 The Talos Principle 2 on Mac with Boosteroid

Estimate· Streaming

Streaming The Talos Principle 2 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

  1. Create a Boosteroid account and pick a plan.
  2. Use the web client or download the macOS app.
  3. Add The Talos Principle 2 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 The Talos Principle 2 on Mac with Whisky

Estimate· Compatibility

Running The Talos Principle 2 through Whisky translates the game's Windows DirectX calls into Metal on the fly. Performance is impressively close to a native Windows PC on Apple Silicon, and you stay entirely inside macOS — no VM, no rebooting. Expect to spend 10–20 minutes on first-time setup.

Step-by-step

  1. Download Whisky (free, requires macOS 14+).
  2. Open Whisky → New Bottle.
  3. Install Steam or your launcher in the bottle.
  4. Install The Talos Principle 2 and run it from Whisky.

Video proof

Download Whisky (free) ↗Affiliate link — supports the site at no extra cost.

How to run The Talos Principle 2 on Mac with Game Porting Toolkit

Estimate· Compatibility

Running The Talos Principle 2 through Game Porting Toolkit translates the game's Windows DirectX calls into Metal on the fly. Performance is impressively close to a native Windows PC on Apple Silicon, and you stay entirely inside macOS — no VM, no rebooting. Expect to spend 10–20 minutes on first-time setup.

Step-by-step

  1. Install Homebrew: /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)".
  2. brew tap apple/apple http://github.com/apple/homebrew-apple then brew install game-porting-toolkit.
  3. Create a Wine prefix and install Steam inside it.
  4. Install The Talos Principle 2 through Steam and launch via gameportingtoolkit.

Video proof

Get Game Porting Toolkit ↗Affiliate link — supports the site at no extra cost.

Our recommendation

For most Mac players we recommend CrossOver as the fastest, smoothest way to play The Talos Principle 2. One-click local install, official support.

MethodQualityDifficultyCost
CrossOverPickGoodMedium$74 one-time / $39/year
ParallelsEstimateMedium$99/year + Windows licence
BoosteroidEstimateEasy$9.95 / month
WhiskyEstimateMediumFree
Game Porting ToolkitEstimateAdvancedFree
Try CrossOver free for 14 days

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