wtf is mist?

Mist is a native Mac application that lets you download and play Windows Steam and Epic Games titles on macOS, without ever running the actual Steam client. It uses Wine, a compatibility layer that runs Windows software on other systems, along with Apple's Game Porting Toolkit and other graphics translation tools, to get Windows games working on Apple hardware. You sign in once with a Steam QR code scan, and Mist handles your game library, downloads, and achievements directly by talking to Steam's own systems, rather than running Steam's official app inside Wine. The app tracks real Steam achievements, showing them in the app with information about how rare each one is, and unlocks them as you actually earn them in game, syncing to your real Steam profile. It can also read your Steam Cloud save data and restore a saved game to the correct location, matching Steam's own cloud storage system, though the README notes that uploading new save progress back to the cloud is not yet supported due to how Steam's servers verify official clients. Downloads happen through an open source tool called DepotDownloader instead of Steam's own downloader, avoiding some of the interface problems that come from running Steam's official app under Wine. Most single-player and indie games are reported to work well. The README says older graphics technology runs out of the box, while newer graphics technology works best with Apple's Game Porting Toolkit or the CrossOver compatibility tool installed. Online multiplayer games that use anti-cheat systems are not supported, since Mist does not try to bypass anti-cheat protections. Installation is done through Homebrew or by downloading a disk image file, and because the app is not notarized by Apple, users need to right-click and choose open the first time to get past macOS's security warning. The README is upfront that this project is not affiliated with Steam or Epic Games, and that using their content through third-party tools may not follow their official terms of service, so it should only be used with games you already own. Mist is free and released under the MIT license, while the Wine engine it relies on uses the LGPL license.