Cascade Game Library for macOS

An experimental native game library for macOS.

Browse and launch your games from one native SwiftUI library. Today it scans and browses folders of games you own; emulator launching, Windows-game and cloud integrations are planned.

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What it is

Cascade aims to be one native Mac library on top of the game tools you already use — emulators, a Windows-compatibility layer, and cloud services — so you browse and launch everything from one place, while continuing to install and manage those tools yourself.

It is a launcher / library manager. It reads only files you point it at, and it will never bundle, download, or link to game content (ROMs, BIOS, keys). See the legal line in ARCHITECTURE.md.

Works today

• Add folders of games you own.
• Scan them and list games in an icon grid.
• Basic platform detection by file extension.
• Search by name and filter by source.
• A native SwiftUI interface.

Planned (not built yet)

• Launch a game through the right emulator (starting with Dolphin, then PCSX2, RPCS3).
• Detect installed emulators automatically.
• Artwork and metadata (from SteamGridDB / IGDB).
• Windows games via Apple's Game Porting Toolkit / CrossOver.
• Cloud-game shortcuts (GeForce NOW, Xbox Cloud).
• Controller support and translations.

See ROADMAP.md.

Where it fits

macOS already has good, active tools, and Cascade doesn't try to replace them:

• OpenEmu — a full retro-emulation environment (2.4.1 is current).
• Mythic and Heroic — active launchers for Windows/store games (GPTK/CrossOver, Epic/GOG).
• Pegasus — a cross-platform emulator frontend.

Cascade's angle is to be the native Mac library that sits over the tools you already manage and launches from all of them in one place. That integration is the goal; today only the library/scanning part exists.

Note: Whisky (a Wine/GPTK front-end) was archived in May 2025 — its users need a new home for Windows games, which is part of what Cascade eventually wants to help with.

Build

Cascade is a Swift Package:

swift build          # compile
swift run Cascade     # run (on macOS 14+)

Developed on Windows with macOS CI verifying every build; real testing happens on a Mac.

License

MIT © 2026 MalyStern and Cascade contributors.

_{If Cascade becomes useful on your Mac, a GitHub star helps other Mac gamers find it.}

_{Keywords: Mac game launcher, macOS game library, emulator frontend for Mac, unified game library, run Windows games on Mac, Apple Silicon game launcher, Dolphin/PCSX2/RPCS3 launcher.}