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 ShowFest 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!

1. 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.
2. 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.

3. Type chmod a+x GameName.app/Contents/MacOS/* into the Terminal window, but replace GameName with 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 enter chmod 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.

4. 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”.