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 | Reported | 1 report |
| 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
This game has a native macOS version on Steam, so the Mac Steam app runs it directly without Highball. The Windows build was reported perfect through Highball over a four and a half hour session on an M2 Pro, mode not stated. A player on an M5 with version 107 needed three fixes of their own, listed below (highball-db#988). No measurement here yet.
Known issues
A green screen with sound at start on D3DMetal (Godot's Direct3D 12 renderer)
What helps put an override.cfg in the game's folder that sets rendering_device/driver="vulkan", so the game uses Vulkan through MoltenVK (highball-db#988)
Why by the reporter, Godot's Direct3D 12 renderer calls IDXGIFactory2::CreateSwapChainForComposition, which D3DMetal doesn't support
Multiplayer doesn't work
What helps add winmm=n,b in the environment's DLL overrides (highball-db#988)
Why by the reporter, the multiplayer proxy DLL in the game's folder is a winmm.dll, and Wine uses its own winmm unless told otherwise
Online lobbies don't work when the game isn't started through the Windows Steam client
What helps start it with Play in Highball, which goes through the Windows Steam client in the environment. The reporter also turned sync off (highball-db#988)
Why the game's Steamworks can't reach the Mac's Steam app, only a Windows Steam client running in the same environment
Provenance
Reported by hamza-sahin (highball-db#84, 2026-09-16), Apple M2 Pro, macOS 26.6.2, Highball 0.9.19, engine x64-sikarugir10.0_6-r3, rated 5 of 5 after 271 minutes. Graphics mode not stated. Not verified by the maintainer. RIMACODING (highball-db#988, 2026-11-04), Apple M5, macOS 26.7.1, Highball 0.10.23, engine x64-sikarugir10.0_6-r28, DXVK by the report (the environment's mode is DXMT), rated 3 of 5 after 75 minutes: Slay the Spire 2 version 107, a Godot 4 game, at a steady frame time once three fixes were in place, all the reporter's own. Godot's default Direct3D 12 renderer showed a green screen with sound on D3DMetal, which the reporter puts down to IDXGIFactory2::CreateSwapChainForComposition, so an override.cfg in the game's folder sets rendering_device/driver="vulkan" to use Vulkan through MoltenVK. Multiplayer proxy DLLs needed winmm=n,b. Online lobbies needed the Windows Steam client running in the environment, with sync off.
Before installing anything, it is worth checking whether the game already ships a native Mac build.
Common questions
Does Slay the Spire 2 work on Mac?
Slay the Spire 2 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 Slay the Spire 2 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.