Highball
Which renderer to use
Highball can run each game through three different Direct3D translation layers. This is what the database knows for this title — empty rows are open questions, not failures.
| Renderer | Verdict | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| DXVKDirect3D 9-11 over Vulkan | Untested | no report yet — send one |
| DXMTDirect3D 11 over Metal | Untested | no report yet — send one |
| D3DMetalApple's Game Porting Toolkit | Untested | no report yet — send one |
No dated Highball run yet. When one lands it records the renderer, the engine build and the macOS version it was seen on — which is what stops a verdict quietly rotting. Send one.
Notes
Playable with a controller once three things are handled, by udance4ever's report. The game folder held 4,407 macOS '._' metadata files, and the game only ran after they were deleted. DXSETUP shows errors on the first start only and can be dismissed. Clicking inside the game window zooms it and makes it unplayable until the game restarts. Once in game it ran perfectly. Turn Steam Input on for the controller.
Provenance
Reported by udance4ever (highball-db#429, 2026-10-10), Apple M1, macOS 27.0.1, Highball 0.10.14, engine x64-sikarugir10.0_6-r24, the environment in D3DMetal mode, Steam Input on, rated 3 of 5 (playable with workarounds). Not verified by the maintainer.
Before installing anything, it is worth checking whether the game already ships a native Mac build.
Common questions
Does Alice: Madness Returns work on Mac?
Alice: Madness Returns has no native Mac build, but it is reported to run on Apple Silicon through Highball, a free open-source compatibility layer. This comes from community reports rather than a Highball test run, so treat it as a reasonable expectation rather than a guarantee.
Contribute a result
This page is generated from an open database. If you have run Alice: Madness Returns on Apple Silicon, working or not, a report takes a minute and fills in the empty rows above. Send a report, or read how the data is put together.