Wizard101 is a freemium MMORPG designed to be playable by all ages 10 and up. Unfortunately, the client is PC only, which leaves those of us who are on the Mac and want to play high and dry. Fortunately, there is an awesome program by CodeWeavers called CrossOver Games that will let you play Wizard101 on the Mac almost perfectly. (I say almost because it occasionally crashes and requires a program restart if you try to change resolution. But there are some games that do that when played on Windows natively, so its an oversight I’m willing to overlook.)
This process was tested on two Macs running OSX Lion, but there’s no reason it shouldn’t work on Snow Leopard. DISCLAIMER: Just because it worked for me doesn’t mean it’ll work for you, and I’m not responsible for anything that happens. Also, this might break the TOS for Wizard101. I don’t think so, but it might. Let’s get started!
Start by grabbing a copy of CrossOver Games. Put in your info, and start the download. This is the 14 day trial. To go beyond that, you can buy the program (which I recommend because its such good software) or you can find other ways of keeping it working. While CrossOver Games is downloading, download the installer for Wizard101.
Once the CrossOver Games is done downloading, open the .dmg file from where it downloaded and drag the application from the disk image that opened to your applications directory. You can follow the instructions that pop up.
Once the application has finished copying, open CrossOver Games from the Applications directory. When the purchase window pops up, click ‘Try”.
You should see the CrossOver start screen. Click “Install Windows Program”. When the installer window opens, click the “Select an Installer” blade, select “Choose Installer File”, navigate to where the Wizard101 installer downloaded, and open the Wizard101 installer. Clicking “Proceed” will kick off the installation progress, which should include 3 sub-installers that will run before the Wizard101 installer (one for Direct X, one for Flash, and another for Direct X). Follow the instructions and complete all the installers.
Once Wizard101 has successfully installed, enter your name and password to get any updates, but DO NOT click “Play” once the updates are downloaded. Rather, exit out of Wizard101 by clicking the red ball in the top left of the application window. This will signal to CrossOver that the installation is done. CrossOver will finalize the installation and present you with an application link to Wizard101, which you can put in the dock and use like a normal application link.
Congrats! Have fun playing Wizard101!
UPDATE: CodeWeavers also has a page for Wizard101, and they’re offering a discount on CrossoverGames and the CrossOver Bundle! Check it out here.
