If you ask Mac gamers to name one survival game, you’ll probably hear Ark: Survival Evolved… a lot. That’s because in Ark, if you survive long enough, you get to tame, control and even ride dinosaurs and other prehistoric beasts. And while its focus is on multiplayer, it also includes a single-player offline mode.

After launching with over one hundred titles, Apple Arcade continues to grow its library with a release of a new game almost weekly. This week brings another new title to the service - a 'space survival soiree' called No Way Home from SMG Studio.

In Ark, you survive and thrive by collecting resources, crafting items, taming animals including the aforementioned dinosaurs, forming or joining tribes and fighting off the other humans on the island. If you’re good enough, you can advance to upgrading your dinosaurs with lasers. Really.

But this is a persistent world, where (bad) things keep happening even when you’re away from the game. You’ve been warned.

In this review:

And it’s not just hard to survive in Ark, it’s also known for being hard on your computer, so our tests this week are focusing on our more powerful Macs. Does your Mac have what it takes? As always, we’re here to help you figure that out.

And as we always do, we will be testing the game on several different Macs, with a focus on higher-end models. Also, note that in multiplayer you’ll need a good internet connection to keep from dealing with literally deadly lag.

First things first, is the game any good?

After being on Steam Early Access for two years, Ark: Survival Evolved was finally released in August of 2017.

While a popular game as far as having a large user base (obviously important for a multiplayer game), Ark: Survival Evolved received mixed reviews.

Players like the depth of the game and its open world, but excessive grinding and a hostile environment for new players on public servers take away some of the fun.

The game has a 70/100 Metascore, which is ok, and 68% positive reviews on Steam from almost 150,000 users.

A closer look at the reviews reveals the mixed feelings players have about the game. TJ Hafer’s detailed review at IGN concluded:

ARK: Survival Evolved has some great moments of battle with prehistoric beasts, but just as many of AI bugs and grind.

Ian Birnbaum at PC Gamer largely agreed:

Feeling real fear in a game—fear of failure, fear of loss—can be really fun. Escaping that fear can be dramatic, and the tragedy of almost getting away can be unforgettable. But when so much of Ark is grinding drudgery, the consequences of its unforgiving style are hard to enjoy.

My Take: Ark: Survival Evolved is a survival game with some real strengths and some significant weaknesses. If you’re willing to put in the time, and die and lose your work over and over again, you can rise to a level where things get really fun.

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But if you’re not willing to put up with the grind and the established user base, it may be too frustrating of a game for you.

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Ark: Survival Evolved Mac requirements

These are Ark: Survival Evolved’s Mac system requirements (minimum):

Checking system requirements is particularly important for extremely demanding games such as this one. Unless you have a high-end Mac, you’d be wise to pay extra attention to the game’s requirements…

The Test: Can you run Ark: Survival Evolved on Mac?

So you’ve decided you’re willing, but is your Mac up to the challenge?

To evaluate how well Ark: Survival Evolved runs, we’ll test it on these models:

• iMac (5K, 27-inch, Mid-2017): 3.8 GHz Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM, AMD Radeon Pro 580 (8GB)
• iMac (5K, 27-inch, Late 2014): 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM, AMD Radeon R9 M290X (2GB)
• MacBook Pro (15-inch, Touch/Mid-2017): 2.9 GHz Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM, AMD Radeon Pro 560 (4 GB)
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2016): 2.0 GHz Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM, Intel Iris Graphics 540 (1.5GB)
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2013): 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM, Intel Iris 5100 (1.5GB)

Be aware that Intel Integrated Graphics cards are not officially supported, but more on that below.

Why these machines? Our purpose is to help you understand how well this game runs on different setups. And hopefully, one of these setups will be similar enough to yours to give you a clear idea of what to expect. We usually have a more varied selection of hardware but as this is a highly demanding game, we will focus on high-end models this time:

• High-end Macs (the 2017 iMac, 2017 MacBook Pro, and 2014 iMac)
• Recent entry-level Macs (the 2016 MacBook Pro)
• Older Macs (the 2013 MacBook Pro)

These are the settings we used to test Ark: Survival Evolved using our in-house FPS counter Count It for a fixed duration of 5 minutes:

• 1280×800 or equivalent resolution
• Graphics Quality: Medium
• Single player, local game (i.e. internet connection is no longer a factor)

Why these settings? Remember, we are testing vastly different machines. Some high-end, some not. 1280×800 and Medium settings won’t impress anyone, but they are acceptable and should meet the requirements of the average gamer.

The Results: MacBook owners, stay away from this one…

We knew going in that the hardware requirements for Ark: Survival Evolved were challenging on the Mac side, and our results confirm that.

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Recent Macs with dedicated graphics cards had no trouble with the game at our default setting, but everything else struggled at best.

As a reminder, this is how we describe the different levels of performance:

Can my Mac run Ark: Survival Evolved?

There’s no question that a high-end Mac can play this game at our default settings. Frame rates of 49 FPS (2014 iMac) and 81 (2017 iMac) put our iMacs in the Smooth and Very Smooth range respectively, while our 2017 15-inch MacBook Pro (using the dedicated graphics card) hit a barely Playable 30 FPS.

While these are OK results for a game known to be demanding and poorly optimized for the Mac (more on that below), we still would have hoped a brand new iMac could have blown the FPS out of water on medium settings. And a brand new MacBook Pro barely hitting playable on medium settings is disappointing, to say the least.

This is what can be expected when turning the settings to high:

Takeaway: If you have a high-end Mac, you can expect to play this game at our default settings with no problem, and you can probably bump things up a bit and still have a silky smooth experience. But playing the game at maximum settings may be outside the reach of anything but a tricked out iMac Pro.

Can you play Ark: Survival Evolved on a MacBook Pro?

Things get tricky here, as they often do with more demanding games. Our 2016 MacBook Pro was nearly Borderline at 19 FPS with our default settings. With settings turned to the minimum it was firmly in the Borderline range at 27 FPS. While this is not ideal it indicates that the game should be playable on newer machines with integrated graphics.

Ultimately it’s a decision for you whether you want to spend your time and money on a game you’ll have to play at very low graphics settings.

Takeaway: If you have a recent Mac with an integrated chipset you may find the game playable. We hit high Borderline on a 2016 13-inch MacBook Pro with all the settings at their minimum. Whether that’s an acceptable tradeoff is up to you. How much do you want to ride those dinosaurs?

But what if you have an older Mac?

As you’d expect, the news gets worse. Our 2013 13-inch MacBook Pro stayed firmly in the Unplayable range, maxing out at 15.5 FPS with all the settings on minimum. If you have an older Mac with a dedicated graphics card, however, there’s a good chance you’ll be in better shape.

The difference between our 2014 iMac and 2013 MacBook Pro indicates that it’s the graphics card that’s doing much of the heavy lifting here, and a look at Ark’s system requirements (see below) indicates that even older machines with a dedicated card might well be fine.

Takeaway: Our older Macs with integrated graphics were unable to even approach the Playable range with our default settings and lowering those settings to the minimum didn’t move the needle enough to put this game close to Playable range. Sorry, you’re out of luck with this one.

Bottom line: Ark: Survival Evolved is demanding on hardware and does not seem to be well optimized for Macs. You’ll need a computer with a dedicated graphics card to get the most out of this game. A newer (last 2-3 years) Mac with integrated graphics should be able to make Ark playable but at low graphics settings.

Perhaps Rust, the other big MacOS survival shooter, will be better optimized. We shall see in an upcoming Performance review…

Note: While Metal support was said to be coming to Ark, the last mention of that was in December of 2016; repeated requests for updates have gone unanswered.

Download Ark: Survival Evolved for Mac

Survival Evolved is available for download from all the major digital stores including Steam and Humble Bundle.

Ark: Survival Evolved Mac Review

Ark: Survival Evolved is one of the most popular online survival games out there. While the reviews are mixed, they all agree that there are some great gameplay elements. And DINOSAURS! Unfortunately, its high hardware demands severely limit the Macs that can run it.

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What you need to know

• Apple has added a new title to its Apple Arcade library.
• 'No Way Home' puts players in deep space with only a ship and a robot to help.
• Players must fight their way through monsters to get back home.

After launching with over one hundred titles, Apple Arcade continues to grow its library with a release of a new game almost weekly. This week brings another new title to the service - a 'space survival soiree' called No Way Home from SMG Studio.

The game strands players in an unknown galaxy with only your spaceship and robot at your disposal. In your journey across space you will come across other alien species - some friendly, some not - and must navigate your way through it all to find your way back home.

Stranded in a strange galaxy, you must fight for survival using only your wits, your ship, and your party planning robot companion. Explore the universe, befriend bizarre aliens, and blast through hordes of monsters as you endeavor to find a way home.

The game features hand-drawn artwork, an ever-changing game experience, and full controller and touch screen support. SMG Studio says that the game is set in an expanding universe and that players can expect to receive new content, stories, and features over time.

SMG Studio has brought over popular games to the App Store such as Death Squared, Thumb Drift and One More Line. No Way Home is the studio's first title to be released exclusively on Apple Arcade.

Apple Arcade is Apple's newly launched gaming subscription. Players can enjoy over one hundred titles across iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV for just $4.99 per month for the whole family (if using Family Sharing).

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