Odds are, you know the big games in a given year. If you regularly play games, it's hard not to at least hear the names of the latest releases from big publishers, which spend huge sums of money to spread awareness of these releases. But it's often in the smaller, less widely known games that you see the most creativity, innovation, and originality. These are often games that are not seeking to appeal to as many people as possible and are instead the vision of a smaller number of people. That can mean that, when you find the right one, it feels like it's meant for you, because it's so acutely designed to appeal to your particular tastes and sensibilities.As such, identifying hidden gems can be a real treat, because it's an opportunity for us to help spread the word on games we love that might have flown under the radar for you. Just look at Steam or any other digital games storefront and it's hard not to be struck by the staggering number of games that release each week, let alone each year. It's no surprise that there are so many great games that any given person has never heard of.In compiling the list below, we tried to accomplish one thing: Highlight lesser-known games that were released in 2024. Some games that fit that description can also be found in our personal favorites list, where we compiled our individual top choices that didn't make the site's overall top 10. But we couldn't limit ourselves to just those--not when there are so many great games. There's almost certainly a game out there you've never heard of and that will delight you in a very personal way, and hopefully we can help you find one. Pepper GrinderAvailable on: PC, Nintendo Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, Xbox OneI'm always looking for games that feel like they're doing something new and interesting. That's especially true when what a game attempts is to give you a new way of getting around, and that's at the core of Pepper Grinder. It's a side-scrolling platformer game in which you'll rely on your character's giant drill to burrow through the ground, collecting items and boosting you across jumps that you wouldn't be able to navigate on foot.Given you're meant to be drilling, that means you can't take immediate sharp turns, which--combined with the momentum you build up to exit the group and leap through the air--forces you to be thoughtful about your every move. This quickly becomes intuitive and drives the gameplay throughout, as you'll need to also use your drill to take out enemies in specific ways. Pepper Grinder is a short game but a good one, with new ideas and challenges being consistently introduced throughout.-- Chris Pereira See at Fanatical Fanatical and GameSpot are both own by Fandom. EuropaAvailable on: PC, Nintendo SwitchWhat If Studio Ghibli made Journey? That's the simple explanation of Europa, a gameplay-light puzzle-platforming game in which you mostly just float around a gorgeous but troubled world digging up a mysterious past. Playing a young boy with an odd jetpack strapped to his back, you'll hover to the top of green hills, through magnificent ruins, and occasionally dodge enemies or other obstacles--though the game wisely offers a Zen Mode that lets you turn off some of these elements so you can more freely vibe with the world.Europa is essentially a game about nature and the balance of our planet, told through a futuristic story about humans who have fled to Jupiter's moon to start anew after Earth became uninhabitable. Are we doomed to make the same mistakes elsewhere? As beings living in the present, what do we owe future generations? Europa grapples with these big-picture ideas but does so in a Ghibli-esque manner, complete with incredible music and an atmosphere that feels relaxing even when the story stakes are, at times, more serious.-- Mark Delaney See at Steam Content WarningAvailable on: PCThe long lineage of horror games inspiring other horror games continues in Content Warning, which is clearly modeled after Lethal Company. Like 2023's breakout hit, you and three friends descend into dark depths to investigate strange creatures in an unfriendly environment before hopefully escaping with your life. The monsters are difficult to describe and quick to kill. But Content Warning's unique spin on the formula makes it one of my favorites in this emerging subgenre.Content Warning pits players as content creators, essentially. You'll head into missions with a handcam, recording a finite amount of footage during your spooky adventure. When--er, if--you make it back above ground, you'll get to watch the tape back in your tiny home. The game seamlessly turns this footage of yours into something like a YouTube video, complete with jumpcuts, selfie segments, and all the stylings of a modern viral video. You can even share it online in real life. It's a clever spin on a game that was already great, which has left me feeling like there's room in my horror diet for both Lethal Company and Content Warning.-- Mark Delaney See at Steam Yellow Taxi Goes VroomAvailable on: PCThrowbacks to the N64-era collectathon/platformer have become fairly commonplace, and while Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom firmly falls into that genre, it sets itself apart by fundamentally changing the way you interact with the world. Rather than placing you in the shoes of your Mario or Donkey Kong stand-in, you instead control a wind-up car that obviously can't jump, as you'd expect from the playable character in a game like this. That change results in a substantially different way of navigating the world that gives Vroom a fresh feel, particularly given your taxi's ability to dash long distances and accelerate or brake in mid-air, physics be damned.That creativity extends to the level design, as each world is full of secrets to uncover as you explore. There are also overt references to other classic games, like a level that's full of Crazy Taxi-style passengers to pick up and deliver. It's all quite nostalgic without feeling like a mere retread of what's come before.-- Chris Pereira See at Steam The Cabin FactoryAvailable on: PCAfter PT dissolved, there began a run of horror games of copycats and games taking inspiration that continues to this day. Playing The Cabin Factory, I can see the connective tissue, but unlike so many others inspired by Kojima's doomed demo, PT, it takes the framework of a looping hallway and goes in a very different direction with it. Your task is to investigate an assembly line of nearly identical cabins. If nothing moves, you exit and report it as not haunted. If something does move, however, you exit and report it as haunted. If you can get several of them right in a row, you win.The problem, of course, are the sometimes subtle differences--did that strange father figure sitting stationary at the breakfast table just turn his head toward me or am I seeing things? Other times, the differences are less subtle, including my favorite loop which involves a portrait of the game's motherly figure. I dare not spoil the different ways this game can go, so you should just see it for yourself. This is a great indie horror game from a team that understood its limitations and made them work in its favor.-- Mark Delaney See at Steam FruitbusAvailable on: PCHands down, the most stressful job I've ever had in my life was running a food truck. No air conditioner, long hours serving longer lines of people, and there was so much prep to get the truck to an event only to be slammed the whole time, then have to turn it around and unload and wash everything. It was genuinely mentally taxing. Somehow, I love Fruibus anyway.In Fruitbus, you inherit not a small shack from your grandfather like so many Stardew-like games, but rather a smoothie business on wheels from your grandmother. In first-person, you'll forage for new fruits and vegetables, upgrade your truck's equipment, and serve the locals in a sunny town full of interesting characters. Maybe it's because the lines never quite get so long, or I don't have to worry about the scorching temperature inside the truck, but there's an obvious charm to Fruitbus. It's there in the first moment, and it stays with you for your entire adventure.-- Mark Delaney See at Fanatical Pro Philosopher 2Available on: PCPro Philosopher 2 may look familiar, and that could be because you played the original years ago, or maybe it's because the game essentially reinterprets the gameplay mechanics and visual stylings of Ace Attorney. But you won't be arguing to lock up defendants in this one. You'll be arguing with real philosophers from history, like Machiavelli, Locke, and Marx. This sequel moves away from moral philosophy--which is admittedly more up my alley--and onto political philosophy. In an age where coherent debate no longer moves the needle for an electorate, it's made me feel a weird kind of nostalgia for life before post-truth.But besides that angle, it's also just a fun game for people who are annoying at parties, like me. One of the best parts about it is that, just like in a debate club, you'll sometimes have to argue against things you might actually agree with. As a result, it promotes strong reasoning ability as you'll need to cut down the viewpoints of history's most persuasive thinkers to finally discover the one true philosophy, nullifying all other arguments for the rest of human history. Okay, that last part is a joke.-- Mark Delaney See at Steam InkboundWith Monster Train, developer Shiny Shoe did a masterful job of taking an existing concept--the Slay the Spire-style card-based roguelike--and innovating on it with some fantastic additions and changes that more than sufficiently differentiated it from its clear inspiration. Inkbound does the same thing but with Hades. While I wouldn't argue its writing or music are on par with that of Hades (though that I find that to be an extremely high bar), the gameplay wrinkles here have really hooked me.Inkbound swaps out the real-time combat of Hades for turn-based action, putting you in arenas where you can see your enemies' upcoming actions and run around, taking a series of actions and positioning yourself to minimize or avoid damage. That alone gives it a very distinct flavor, but toss in different character classes that play quite differently, a compelling metagame/progression system, and online co-op support, and you have a game that's much more than the Hades copycat it might appear to be at first glance.-- Chris Pereira See at Steam Classified: France '44Available on: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PCBeing an XCOM fan sure can be difficult when you have to go so long in between new titles, but a little turn-based tactics game from Absolutely Games and Team17 served as a great substitute this year. Set a few weeks before the enormous D-Day invasion--with an in-game clock drawing ever closer to June 6 as you complete missions--Classified: France '44 can be best described as "XCOM but WW2." With a small squad of paratroopers and local freedom fighters at your disposal, you go behind enemy lines, taking out key members of the Third Reich and softening up their defenses before the gargantuan attack at Normandy.Classified: France '44 hits all the right notes when it comes to combat, emphasising cover and careful troop placement alongside balanced party composition. It also occasionally forces you to make difficult decisions, like assisting one partisan fighter while leaving an allied soldier to fend for himself. You simply cannot be in two places at once, and balancing your desire to keep your allies safe with fully preparing for the landing parties' imminent arrival is a constant struggle in the best way possible. And, naturally, mowing down Nazis with machine guns and grenades feels pretty good, too.-- Gabe Gurwin See at Fanatical Skald: Against The Black PrioryAvailable on: PCSkald: Against the Black Priory is a love letter to the early eras of computer RPGs and to Lovecraftian cosmic horror alike, and it's smothered in the mechanical cruft and existential terror both of those inspirations are known for. It's also, in many ways, the grimy, weirder antithesis of a game like Baldur's Gate 3. Both are top-down CRPGs with multiple-choice dialog interactions, tactical turn-based combat, and on-screen dice rolls for skill checks. But where Baldur's Gate 3 offers unparalleled freedom, Skald imposes stricter boundaries on the player's roleplaying agency, which--for me--works to its benefit. Skald has plenty of player choice and varied story outcomes, but the scope is much more contained, and it uses those boundaries to deliver an unsettling narrative that is dripping with evocative imagery and an unsettling, often oppressive atmosphere.That feeling is present in Skald's gameplay as well. This is a crunchy game for RPG sickos. The wounds your party suffers in combat can follow them long after the last foe has fallen, and failure is often a death sentence--whether for you or for the poor souls you're trying to save. To the game's credit, Skald features welcome difficulty and accessibility settings so you can adjust the mechanical tension to whatever level feels most appropriate for you. But the one thing you can't escape on this adventure is those brief glimpses of what lies beyond, always watching, whispering up from the deep.-- Brendan Hesse See at Fanatical Temtem SwarmAvailable on: PCThe Survivor-like bullet-heaven genre is reaching a saturation point, and as a casual fan, only a few per year stand out from the crowd. For me this year that was Temtem Swarm, an unexpected spin-off of the Pokemon-like creature-collection game that is in early access but already feels as full-fledged as many of its contemporaries.The Temtem connection means that Swarm already has a readymade, colorful visual aesthetic filled with unique and differentiated monsters to both play with and battle. Most of the Temtem evolve at particular levels during a run, which adds a wrinkle of strategy as you can count on getting a big power boost at particular points. Each one also has its own deep skill tree to upgrade, and you collect new Temtem by finding and hatching their eggs during the enemy onslaught. It's just already very polished and feature-complete already, with more on the way. It's quickly become my go-to Steam Deck game for taking a quick break between other, longer experiences.-- Steve Watts See on Steam Secrets of GrindeaAvailable on: PCA throwback to classic action-RPGs like Secret of Mana, Secrets of Grindea is a top-down action game with tongue firmly in cheek. The story is cute and self-aware of its own RPG tropes, even tipping a hat to bizarre moments from classics like a subplot that includes Santa Claus. That can make it a little talky at points, but what makes Grindea most engaging is the sheer level of control you have over your experience.The skill tree is massive and varied, and you can spend and reallocate points at will to make your character a fearsome melee warrior, a spell-slinging sorcerer, a powerful summoner, and so on. The sheer amount of variety and low barrier to experimentation means you can produce makes it fun to slowly build toward your ultimate power-build, or just tinker with different powers to keep reinventing the experience. On top of all that, you can team up for four-player co-op, customize your home, or play a roguelike Arcade Mode. It's a game that keeps giving, and despite the title, it never feels like a grind.-- Steve Watts See at Steam WitchfireAvailable on: PCAs the years go by, more and more games are launching in early access. These experiences can fluctuate in quality wildly when they launch, but few release as rock-solid as Witchfire. Thanks to a year in early access as an Epic Games Store exclusive, the Steam launch of the game, despite it still remaining in early access, offers a first-person shooter experience that feels more complete and more polished than some FPS titles that have been fully released.The core of the Witchfire experience is a souls-like--with similar aesthetics to From Software's various games as well--but with FPS gameplay that feels like Destiny 2's. This is then set in a roguelike loop where players must venture forth into various biomes to hunt down each region's witch.Where a lot of early-access games feel like you can hit a content wall after a time, Witchfire's design is built with replayability in mind. Its different levels hold numerous secrets that you uncover the more you play, giving you further insight into the game's lore. Additionally, the more you play, the more abilities and weapons you can unlock, as well as new areas you can access in the hub you return to after each mission.I rarely touch games while they're in early access, but Witchfire is one I've found myself coming back to time and time again since its launch on Steam. With the promise of new regions to explore, enemies to face, and weapons to wield over the next year, and with an intended launch of the full game in Fall 2025, it seems there will be even more reasons to return to Witchfire beyond it just being fun as hell to play.-- Tom Caswell See at Steam Fields of MistriaAvailable on: PCThere are a lot of farming sims out there. Like. A lot, a lot. With that in mind, I've become increasingly more selective about which ones I will devote the same ridiculous amount of hours I've given games like Harvest Moon: Back to Nature and Stardew Valley. Yet Fields of Mistria is one I can easily see myself devoting even more time to, as I truly believe that--even in early access--it is an exceptional addition to the genre.This is not solely because of its quality-of-life improvements, though they are numerous and outstanding. Some things--like fishing and completing upgrades--are made more simplistic, while stamina usage and passing out once you've reached the wee hours of the night are far less punishing. On top of being able to farm, mine, forage, etc., the game adds swimming--a small, but fun activity. The game also gifts you with a robust skill tree, a renown system, and magic, which includes powers such as the ability to change the weather. It's an absolute game-changer.Every store is open all day, as the owners will allow you to leave money on the counter, and it's much easier to find and interact with villagers. This is especially nice considering how interesting and beautifully-designed these characters are. In Fields of Mistria, the town and its inhabitants feel alive and distinct from one another. All of the romance options are well-written and compelling, and the inclusion of fun lil' town events--like Friday nights at the inn, when every villager comes together to drink and hang out with one another--create a sense of community and interconnectedness. Combine all this with graphics that are part Sailor Moon and part Game Boy Advance and cozy music you can easily vibe out to, and you have an exceptional entry in the farming-sim genre that is set to become the new standard.-- Jessica Cogswell See at Amazon Tiny GladeAvailable on: PC I'll admit it: I've never quite gotten the appeal of games such as PowerWash Simulator, which I suspect is because I do enough cleaning as is. However, when my husband, a major PowerWash Simulator fan, explained the kind of dopamine hit the game offered him, I realized I do have my own version of it: Tiny Glade.There are no real objectives in Tiny Glade. No resources to manage, no rules or demands. Instead, you simply build. You build battlements, moats, and bridges--keeps, villages, and wide-open pastures. You can then adorn your buildings with vines and stained-glass windows, run laundry lines between them, or add small courtyards and gardens for sheep to graze in. It's a low-stakes experience that is absolutely gorgeous, and the game's intuitive building mechanics make it stress-free as well.Though there is room for more tools and new additions, as a whole Tiny Glade is a captivating experience that you can easily sink hours into. It offers a gentleness and peace of mind not often found in games, and is a must-play for folks who spend hours in The Sims build mode yet long for something a bit more flexible with charming, medieval vibes.-- Jessica Cogswell See on Steam

2024 has been a stacked year for seasonal anime releases. Apothecary Diaries, Frieren, Dandadan, and Blue Box are a short list of the anime this year that will last in anime fan's minds as we continue on to 2025, ready for new shows, new seasons, and new goodbyes to our favorite anime series as they finally achieve their endings. This summer anime season this year has been particularly great too; the second season of Oshi no Ko finally came out, but we also had brand-new anime adaptations like the shoujo romance Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian.

Jujutsu Kaisen took over major Japanese newspapers! Jujutsu Kaisen's last chapter was released in Shonen Jump back in September, with an unexpected turn of events right at the final moments of the series. As has been happening with many other endings, many fans harshly criticized the way Gege Akutami finished the story.

With Path of Exile 2 launching in early access on December 6, 2024, many players were able to get to the endgame portion of the action RPG, test multiple classes and skills, explore the various intricacies of the game's mechanics, and more. There is most likely a lot left in store for the game throughout 2025 and ahead of its full release, and it's equally plausible that many things may change over time to make Path of Exile 2 the best version of itself it can be. Although the game launched in a great state overall for an early access release, it already has some clear pain points, one of them being how its endgame approach completely shifts the premise of a slower and more methodical ARPG.

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Room 237 is a documentary that plumbs the depths of The Shining, using various peoples voice-overs to guide the viewer through interpretations of Stanley Kubricks seminal 1980 horror film. I have no real thoughts on it; I love The Shining, but have avoided Room 237 mostly by nature of having heard about so much of it secondhand. But Pitch Perfect 237 is the sweet nexus of truth that we should all succumb to this holiday season, letting its light guide our way to 2025 and perfect goofs.I wont spoil it for you; its right there embedded at the top of the post, and I believe you came here not in search of some YouTube video to abate some holiday season slump, but rather, to really engage with something. And what better than a movie that pulls back the layers on acclaimed cultural juggernaut Pitch Perfect?Theres a side of this that you can pull on further. You can push past the gentle ribbing of Pitch Perfect 237 and onto its larger reflection of us, the way in which humankind likes to pull at something and find patterns so obsessively we dont know which way is up. Many have made the case that Room 237 goes too far as it fanatically drills down and down and down into a stone-cold masterpiece in an effort to find something more revealing than the engrossing madness already on the screen. The way brains can make connections so easily that you stop noticing when a hop and a skip becomes a jump and a leap. The way, if you follow a trail long enough, it all goes back to 9/11 conspiracy theories But no! We dont have to. Thats the beauty of Pitch Perfect 237, a film that gives itself over so cleanly to parody that we can give into our bursts of giggles. Whether youre familiar with Room 237s game or not, Pitch Perfect 237 is the six-minute, 48-second masterpiece to unwind with.

The Sonic franchise is the rare movie series thats gotten better and better with each subsequent sequel. In this case, the reason why is actually very simple: Each new one adds at least one new Little Guy. And the filmmakers have absolutely perfected making these Little Guys, translating them from their cartoony designs to realistic ones.Its a bit of a miracle, considering the initial Sonic design was so ill received the crew went back and redid all the animation. If director Jeff Fowler hadnt taken the movie back to the drawing board, its unlikely that we wouldve seen Sonic 2, let alone Sonic 3 (or Sonic 4, which is officially in the works for 2027). The first iteration of Sonic was frankly terrifying. It skewed too realistic, with small, beady eyes, oddly humanlike legs, and, most infamously, a set of individually rendered chompers. The backlash was so strong that Team Sonic (Movie) delayed the film five months to work on getting the Little Guy just right.And boy, what a makeover. Sonic is the perfect blend of cartoony and realistic. His fur is textured enough that I have a pretty good idea of how it would feel if I touched it, but his eyes and facial features are big, exaggerated, and just plain cute. (Also, his teeth arent so high-def that I could floss them.)With Tails (Colleen OShaughnessey) and Knuckles (Idris Elba) introduced in Sonic 2 and Shadow (Keanu Reeves) introduced in Sonic 3, that cast of adorable and perfectly calibrated Little Guys has only grown and each with their own unique personality. Tails bubbly and buoyant personality is the one youd most expect out of a cute talking animal sidekick, but he never gets grating. Meanwhile, Knuckles is incredibly serious and thinks with his fists instead of his brain. Shadow is angsty and full of vengeance. Its just damn funny for a character to plot murder when that character is a 3-and-a-half-foot-tall black hedgehog with red hair streaks.But what makes these movies absolutely wonderful is the fact that these adorable Little Guys are interacting with the human world. The sheer comedy of a seasoned general of a powerful military organization sitting down next to three brightly colored anthropomorphic creatures and very seriously offering them the launch card to a deadly secret weapon is unrivaled.As more Little Guys are introduced, theres always the chance that the movies tip too much into CG creature territory and lose the crackling juxtaposition of the real and cartoony. Yes, theres charm in having an entire animated movie of the Sonic characters. But personally, I think so much of the humor comes from seeing the grounded human characters interact with the brightly colored cartoons. Humor works best when theres contrast, and the goofier elements of the Little Guys and Jim Carreys outlandish Dr. Robotnik pop even more when the regular folks of Green Hills, Montana, have to adjust to having a bizarre group of alien creatures just walking around town. The regular human characters might be boring, but thats the point. Its like how the Muppets work best when they get to play off a few straitlaced humans. Its all about the balance of the zany and the mundane.And so far, Fowler has deftly kept that balance, and against all odds, each new movie has only been stronger and stronger. And with the post-credits scene teasing Amy Rose, as well as an army of Metal Sonics, there are even more Little Guys (gender neutral!) to look forward to, with new personalities joining the mix. Bring on Sonic 4. At this rate, its probably going to be a masterpiece.

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Garage 54 is renowned for its innovative approach to automotive builds, showcasing a remarkable ability to transform ordinary materials into extraordinary creations. This Russian team has previously demonstrated their ingenuity by turning gas struts from office chairs into suspensions and crafting pistons from plastic bottles. Their latest project continues this tradition, delivering another unique and satisfying build.Russian mechanics have long been celebrated for their talent in converting the mundane into the spectacular, and Garage 54 consistently raises the bar with each new endeavor. Their latest creation involves modifying a Fiat 124-derived Lada with an engine that seems to exist only in the realm of wild imagination.Designer: Garage 54The transformation of the Lada required extensive modifications to its engine compartment, originally measuring 18.5 inches. To accommodate the new steel frame, which now spans 51.8 inches, the team had to cut the front half of the vehicle, create a supporting frame, and weld the sections together to achieve the elongated structure. The exposed engine compartment enhances the Ladas Mad Max-like appearance, making it a striking presence on the road.Despite the vibrations from the chainsaw motors, which result in a less-than-smooth ride even on the most buttery highways, the experience offers a unique thrill akin to a full-body massage. Additionally, the smoke and noise generated by the engine ensure that the ride is anything but ordinary, keeping riders on edge and engaged throughout the journey.Completely hand built, this Ladas engine compartment bay measuring 18.5 inches had to be modified heavily to fit the new steel frame that now takes up 51.8 inches of space. The engine compartment is not concealed by the hood, thus making this Lada a true Mad Max-worthy ride. Considering the vibration of the chainsaw motors is not going to make it a smooth ride even on the most buttery freeways, one can take solace that they are going to be a good body massage alternative. Leave alone all the smoke and noise thats going to always keep the riders at unease.The project involved dismantling sixteen 58cc, two-stroke Hter BS-62 chainsaws from Hter Technik, a German manufacturer. Assembling these chainsaws into a functional engine compartment was a complex undertaking. The motors are mounted on a custom frame and operate in sync to rotate a metal rod connected to a toothed gear welded to the crankshaft.This intricate setup is linked to the gas pedal via several cables, ensuring smooth operation. Aside from the custom engine, the Lada retains standard components such as the flywheel, starter motor, and manual transmission, preserving a touch of its original character amidst the extensive modifications.The post 16 Chainsaws get converted into an oversized V16 engine for a Custom Lada Design first appeared on Yanko Design.

MacworldGot a new Mac? If this is the first one youve ever owned, a hearty congratulations! Your new Mac is easy to use and more powerful than its ever been. As easy as the Mac is to use, doing some things may not be instantly obvious (especially if you are coming from Windows). You owe it to yourself to make sure youre getting the most out of your new investment.Here are 12 things that you should do right away that will help you get started down the path toward being a Mac power user. Most of these will cost you absolutely nothing except a bit of time to set up.We have a separate guide to how to set up your Mac, we also explain how to move everything from your old Mac to your new Mac. And if you are moving to Mac from a PC read: How to move from PC to Mac.1.Enter your Apple Account and passwordFoundryTheres a good chance that even if this is your first Mac, you already use an iPhone or an iPad. Just like those other devices, your Mac wants you to enter your Apple Account and Apple Account password. Enter your Apple Account and password to connect to iCloud on your Mac when you first set it up or later through the Apple Account system setting.By connecting to iCloud with your Apple Account you can access all your photos, contacts, calendars, and much more on all your Apple devices without ever having to physically tether or sync them. Once all your Apple devices are linked this way youll also be able to take advantage of features like being able to cut and paste between devices, use a mouse and keyboard to control more than one Mac, and make purchases on the Mac App Store.Depending on whether you an an iCloud subscriber you will also be able to sync files to the cloud, including documents and everything you save to your Desktop. Because you can access everything in iCloud on any Apple device you own you wont need to have your Mac handy to edit a Pages document you are working on, for example. Find out about iCloud here: How to use iCloud and What is iCloud Private Relay. To find out how much iCloud costs read: iCloud storage plans and prices.If you havent created an Apple Account yet, now is the time to do so. Think of your Apple Account as your keys to the kingdom. For help read: How to create an Apple ID. You can get to your Apple Account by going to System Settings and clicking Apple Account at the top.2.Use the Help menuFoundryIf youve ever wondered why the Mac doesnt come with a thick owners manual explaining how it works and how all the apps work, wonder no more: That manual is actually built right into the computer. The Help menu is so obvious that most of us overlook it altogether. But we do so at our peril because it can be a huge help. The Help menu sits right there in the menu bar, and its contextual: Its contents will change depending on which app is open.Clicking on the Help menu will bring up a search field, table of contents, lists of shortcuts, and other helpful tips and step-by-step instructions, often with visual cues to show you which menus to click on and what menu items to select. Any time you get stuck in an app and dont know what to do next, click on the Help menu to get out of a jam.3.Get familiar with the Apple MenuFoundryThe Apple menu is in the upper left corner of your Macs screen. Clicking on the Apple icon gives you instant access to your Macs System Settings, the Mac App Store, and apps and documents youve recently opened (see Recent Items). You can also use the Apple menu to restart your Mac and shut it down.If an app misbehaves and stops working, the Apple menu also sports a special function thats worth knowing: Force Quit. Force quit will immediately quit a stubborn application, so you can restart your computer and get back to business.4.Get to know SpotlightFoundryBuilt right into macOS, Spotlight helps you quickly find things on your computer: documents, apps, images, contacts, maps, and files. Whats more, it can connect to the internet to search places like Wikipedia, news sites, movie listings, and much more. You can even use Spotlight to do calculations, like converting feet to meters or any sort of simple arithmetic youd rather trust to the computer.Spotlight lives on your Macs menu bar; its the icon that looks like a magnifying glass and clicking on it brings up the Spotlight search field. You can also open Spotlight by pressing Command and Space at the same time.Type anything into the search field and Spotlight will search for it. Once you get the hang of it, using Spotlight is the fastest way to launch apps, find documents, and do tons of other stuff on your Mac really quickly. Over the years its gained more and more features including robust web and image search, and quick actions like timers built right in.5.Customize the DockAppleThe Dock is that bar of icons that sits at the bottom of your Macs screen. Docks on new Macs will be filled with Apples own built-in apps, like Safari, Mail, Contacts, Calendars, and Notes, but you can customize it to your liking.Your Dock is the most important part of your Mac Desktop, so spend some time getting it just the way you want.You can tailor your Dock to show you only the apps you care about. Dont use Maps or FaceTime? Drag them out of the Dock until the word Remove appears and let go. Use Mail more than anything else? Move it over to the left or right, instead. You can also add applications, folders, and files you need frequently simply by dragging them and dropping them into the Dock.To further reduce the space taken up by the Dock you can change the size of icons. To resize the Dock, click and drag on the bar that separates applications from folders and stacks. You can also change the size of icons, change the magnification of icons as you pass your cursor over them, turn off the bouncing animation, reposition the Dock to the left, bottom or right edges of your screen, and much more in the Desktop & Dock settings (macOS Ventura and later) or Dock & Menu Bar settings (macOS Monterey and earlier). 6.Personalize the way your Mac looksFoundryThis is your Mac. Make it look the way you want it to.Change the wallpaper: Right-click the desktop and select Change Wallpaper, or open System Settings and select the Wallpaper option. You can pick from the beautiful images Apple provides or choose one of your own.Customize the interface: Open System Settings and choose Appearance. You can choose things like highlight colors and whether your interface changes to light or dark depending on the time of day, and more.Change the screen saver: In System Settings > Screen Saver you can pick from tons of screen savers including some beautiful views of the Earth from the space station, underwater video, and more.Use Desktop Stacks: If you want to keep your Macs desktop tidy we recommend switching on Desktop Stacks, which will group all the files on your Desktop by category (you can choose whether they are sorted by kind, date, or tags.) To switch on Stacks click on the Desktop and choose View > Use Stacks from the menu. Now everything will be slotted into category-appropriate Stacks on your Desktop rather than your Desktop being cluttered by thousands of screenshots and files.7.Learn keyboard shortcuts and master gesturesFoundryApples user interface is set up with straightforward menus such as File and Edit, and most apps expose their major features through those menus as well. Need to print something? Just click on the File menu and select Print.But you can save yourself so much time by using keyboard shortcuts to do commonly used tasks instead. Instead of clicking on the File menu and selecting Print, for example, you can just hold down the Command key and press P. (If you are coming from a PC, mostly you will press Command where you used to press Control).Each app on the Mac has its own shortcuts. Opening Mac Help and searching for keyboard shortcuts will yield some references, we also recommend this article: These useful Mac keyboard shortcuts will help you work faster and smarter. If your new Mac includes a trackpadeither because its a laptop with a built-in pad, or you scored a Magic Trackpad to go with your new desktoptake some time to learn about the many gestures built into macOS, your new Macs operating system. One of the simplest ways to discover the various gestures available is right in System Settings. Once there, click on Trackpad. There, youll find three tabs worth of mouse shortcuts. Move the cursor over any of them, and youll get a video preview of how to trigger the gesture. Some may well improve your Mac computing experience; I, for one, love the three-finger double-tap on any word to bring up its definition.8.Visit the Mac App StoreFoundryThe Mac App Store is a convenient and safe way to download software for your Mac, all using the same Apple Account and password you use for Music and iPhone apps. There are thousands of apps available, including many that wont cost you a dime.The Mac App Store is much more important than just a way to download great new apps for your Mac. Its also how Apple distributes essential app updates. To keep your Mac running in tip-top shape and to keep everything as secure as possible, download updates when you see notifications from the Mac App Store or set apps to automatically update like on your iPhone.On a new Mac, its right there in your Dockthe blue circle with a stylized A inside it. The Mac App Store offers thousands of apps, and downloading and installing those apps is straightforward. Many apps are free; others require a payment, ranging from $1 to a couple hundred bucks. While you canand likely willfind plenty of apps outside the cozy confines of the Mac App Store, browsing it is a great way to discover interesting apps, read reviews, and get a sense of the Mac software marketplace.On the M-series Macs, you can even install iPhone and iPad apps. When youre searching, just click over to the iPhone & iPad Apps tab to download iOS apps right on your desktop.9.Start a backupTime Machine snapshots appear as volumes in the Finder. FoundrySetting up a backup is boring, un-fun, and doesnt involve playing with any cool apps or doodads. But your future self will thank You-Of-Just-Past-Christmas, and with good reason: Having a good backup solution now means you wont lose irreplaceable data later. Weve covered numerous ways to back up your Mac with minimal fuss. Pick at least one and get started. Trust me.Probably the simplest solution is to use Apples own backup solution, Time Machine, which is part of the Mac operating system (see How to use Time Machine to back up your Mac). All you need is a separate external storage device that you can buy for a relatively small investment (see: Best external SSD for Mac or best external hard drives if you want something a bit cheaper/bigger). Time Machine makes recovering from big problems easy because it keeps a snapshot of your Mac and makes it a breeze to migrate to a new Mac when the time comes to replace or upgrade your system.The time in Time Machine is a timeline that you can review, restoring files or changes to files that were made at the points where Time Machine saved its backups. Time Machine backs up your Mac hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly, so youll always be able to recover to that point in time. As long as that drive is connected your Mac will be backed up.To set up Time Machine follow these steps: Plug in an external drive. Open System Settings and go to General. Find Time Machine in the column on the right. Click on Options to set the backup frequency.10.Set up your emailFoundryAre you still accessing your email using a web browser, going to Gmail or Microsofts website to see what new messages you have? Theres a better way: Apple gives you a Mail app that can connect to almost every email service. Using the Mail app is a lot more convenient especially if you check multiple email accounts, and its well-integrated with macOSs other core applications, such as Contacts, Calendars, and Maps.Youll find the Mail app in your Dock on new machines. Click it to open it and follow the instructions to set up your account.11.Find your printerFoundryWith so many of us working from home these days, printers are a big thing in many of our houses. In the past, you had to download and install drivers and software, but the Mac makes it way easier to set up.All you need to do is to connect your printer to one of your Macs USB-C ports or connect to a Wi-Fi network. Open System SettingsClick on Printers & Scanners.Click on the Add Printer, Scanner, or Fax button. If your Mac recognizes the device (and it should), itll configure it as needed and download any applicable drivers from Apples servers.12.FaceTime a friend Video chatting might not feel like the future anymore, but its still a delight. No software makes it easier to start (or receive) a video call than FaceTime, which is built right into macOS. Find FaceTime in your Applications folder, or use Spotlight to search for FaceTime by typing in the first few letters of the apps name. Now all you need is the email address or phone number of another FaceTime user.Read more about using FaceTime on a Mac in our guide. 13.Check out Apple IntelligenceAppleIn macOS Sequoia 15.2, Apple Intelligence started to hit its stride with some new tricks, including Image Playground and ChatGPT integration. And thats in addition to the features introduced with macOS 15.1, including Writing Tools and a smarter Photos app.