How to play Pontifex on Mac

PlatformsComputer

Game summary

Build your bridge with love. Be proud of your creation, and give it a pompous name. Then eventually watch it with horror collapsing as a train runs of it, giving you an undeniable proof that your bridge was indeed flawed. Then start over. These few sentences depict well a typical game of Pontifex, the successor of the infamous freeware Bridge Builder which had already made crazy numerous players around the world when it was released. As its name suggests, this game is all about building bridges. Each level confronts you with the same challenge: there is a river to cross, and it's up to you to devise the bridge. Three materials are available - light steel, heavy steel and wire - each with own strength, weight and price. In order to clear a level, your bridge must be able to withstand successfully the weight of a train running on it. Hopefully, you can try an unlimited number of times... The game actually features a very advanced physics model, taking into account compression and stretching - and of course gravity.
First released: Oct 2001

Play Pontifex on Mac with Parallels (virtualized)

The easiest way to play Pontifex on a Mac is through Parallels, which allows you to virtualize a Windows machine on Macs. The setup is very easy and it works for Apple Silicon Macs as well as for older Intel-based Macs.

Parallels supports the latest version of DirectX and OpenGL, allowing you to play the latest PC games on any Mac. The latest version of DirectX is up to 20% faster.

Our favorite feature of Parallels Desktop is that when you turn off your virtual machine, all the unused disk space gets returned to your main OS, thus minimizing resource waste (which used to be a problem with virtualization).

Pontifex installation steps for Mac

Step 1
Go to Parallels.com and download the latest version of the software.
Step 2
Follow the installation process and make sure you allow Parallels in your Mac’s security preferences (it will prompt you to do so).
Step 3
When prompted, download and install Windows 10. The download is around 5.7GB. Make sure you give it all the permissions that it asks for.
Step 4
Once Windows is done installing, you are ready to go. All that’s left to do is install Pontifex like you would on any PC.
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