DOSBox
DOSBox is a free, open-source emulator that lets you run classic DOS games and applications on modern computers. It recreates the environment of a 1980s or 1990s DOS-era PC, complete with CPU cycle control, sound card emulation (Sound Blaster, Adlib), graphics modes, and joystick support. DOSBox is widely used by retro gaming enthusiasts, collectors, and archivists to preserve and play period-accurate versions of games like Doom, Duke Nukem 3D, Commander Keen, and countless other titles that would otherwise be unplayable on contemporary hardware.
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1 suggestionDOSBox Staging, the actively maintained successor to the original DOSBox project, ships a native Apple Silicon (Universal Binary) build that works on M-series Macs without Rosetta 2. Download the latest version from dosbox-staging.org/releases/macos/ — the site automatically serves the Universal Binary. If you are currently running an older Intel-only version of DOSBox under Rosetta 2, switching to DOSBox Staging will give you better performance and ensures you remain compatible when Apple removes Rosetta 2 in macOS 28 (September 2028). The original DOSBox project has not released a native build, so if you are using that version, DOSBox Staging is your path forward.
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