Unfortunately, Mac computers are very picky about what kinds of apps can run on them – especially for rough versions of a project that were created on Windows devices, as many of the exhibitors have. While some of the projects on display for Alpha Fest have a Mac version available, you may run into this error:
This is the Mac’s vague way of telling you that it can’t open the app a normal way (for security reasons). But that’s not the end of the world, there is a way around with only a few steps! It does involve using a Terminal command – but it’s only one line that you can copy and paste, so don’t worry if you’ve never used it before!
- Open Finder, then navigate to the folder containing a project you downloaded (and extracted/unzipped). For instance, if I unzipped the game to my Downloads folder, I would go to Downloads.
- Control-click or right-click on the game’s folder. In the context menu that pops up, click on “Services”, then “New Terminal at Folder”. This will open a Terminal window.
- Type
chmod a+x GameName.app/Contents/MacOS/*into the Terminal window, but replaceGameNamewith the name of the app file for the game you downloaded. For example, if I wanted to play Buried Voices (shown in the screenshot below), I would enterchmod a+x bvg_mac.app/Contents/MacOS/*into Terminal. After typing it in, press the Enter key to run the command. This tells your Mac to trust the app you specified, so it can run without issue.
- Go back to Finder, and double-click the app file to open it. Alternatively, if your computer gives you an “unverified publisher” warning and still won’t open the app, just control-click or right-click (only once) on the file and select “Open”.