My search for a great Android emulator for my new Mac took me down a rabbit hole

Android emulator options for modern M-series Macs remain woefully thin and as stable as beta software.

My search for a great Android emulator for my new Mac took me down a rabbit hole
Mumu Player Mac PvZ
Credit: Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority
Opinion post by
Dhruv Bhutani

I’ll let you in on a secret. I’m a huge fan of the Plants vs. Zombies franchise. It’s been my go-to PC game ever since it was released back in 2009. Unfortunately, the only way to play the just-as-fun sequel, Plants vs Zombies 2, is on a cell phone. As one of the best Android games around, it’s fun for a few rounds on the go, but when I’m home, I’d rather get my fix of blasting zombies with seed pellets on my 43-inch monitor.

Lately, I’ve been looking at some of the best Android emulators available for macOS to run this and my other favorite smartphone games on my computer. As it turns out, the state of Android emulation on a Mac is in a strange place. My research took me down a rabbit hole of discovery. Here’s what I found.