TL;DR for Mac players
On macOS, Paralives uses Cmd in place of Ctrl for the cheat shortcut. Everything else — the cheat names, parameters, and behaviour — is identical to Windows. There are no Steam achievements in Early Access on either platform, so nothing can be locked.
- Press Cmd+F1 or Cmd+Shift+C to open the console.
- Type any cheat in upper or lower case. Input is case-insensitive.
- Money cheats:
PIGGYBANK,MAKEITRAIN,JACKPOT— instant payout. - Cheats are achievement-safe on Mac, exactly like on Windows.
Opening sequence
Five steps to your first Mac cheat
Follow these in order the first time. After step 5 you can keep the console open between sessions — Paralives remembers the panel position.
- 1
Disable the macOS function-key shortcut
macOS hijacks F1-F12 by default. Open System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → Function Keys, and enable 'Use F1, F2, etc. as standard function keys'. Without this you would press fn + Cmd + F1 every time.
- 2
Make sure Spotlight is not bound to Cmd+Space
Paralives does not use Cmd+Space, but Apple's default Cmd+F1 conflict warning sometimes redirects Spotlight. If F1 launches Spotlight or Mission Control, rebind those in System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts before opening Paralives.
- 3
Launch Paralives from Steam, not the Finder
Paralives reads Steam input bindings on launch. Starting it from the Finder skips this step and the cheat shortcut may not register. Always launch via the Steam library entry.
- 4
Open the console with Cmd+F1
Inside the game, on any view (Live mode, Build mode, Paramaker), hit Cmd + F1. A small panel appears at the bottom of the screen. Cmd + Shift + C works as a fallback if F1 is taken.
- 5
Type the cheat and press Return
Type the cheat name, e.g. MAKEITRAIN, and press Return. The household balance jumps by 10,000 Paradimes immediately. Use the up arrow to recall previous commands. Cmd + F1 again closes the panel.
Money cheats
Every Paralives money cheat, on Mac
Eight money commands ship in the EA build. They all work identically on macOS — only the console shortcut to open them differs. Payouts go to the active household, not the selected Para.
| Command | Paradimes | Note |
|---|---|---|
PIGGYBANK | 1,000 | Smallest fixed payout. Useful for testing the console. |
MAKEITRAIN | 10,000 | Most-used mid-game cheat. One full house upgrade in one keystroke. |
JACKPOT | 50,000 | Endgame cheat. Skips the entire late-career grind. |
LOTTERY | 1-100,000 | RNG payout. Run it twice if the first roll is low. |
PAYDAY | = salary | Pays one shift's salary to the active Para. Career-aware. |
PRINTMONEY <amount> | any | You pass the amount: PRINTMONEY 25000. |
SETMONEY <amount> | overwrite | Overwrites — does not add. SETMONEY 0 wipes the household. |
CLEARBILLS | 0 due | Removes all pending bills. Pairs well with PIGGYBANK on a struggling save. |
Need other categories? Skill cheats use LEVELUPSKILL Guitar, needs use RELIEFALLNEEDS, the full 100+ list is on the cheats hub — and every payout sits on the dedicated money cheats page.
Platform diff
macOS vs Windows — what is actually different
Cheat behaviour is identical across platforms. Only the keyboard layer and a few macOS-only quirks change.
macOS
- Open console: Cmd+F1 or Cmd+Shift+C.
- fn-row needs to be set to 'standard function keys' in System Settings.
- Apple Silicon only (M2 minimum) — runs natively, no Rosetta.
- Save folder: ~/Library/Application Support/Paralives/Paralives/Saves.
Windows
- Open console: Ctrl+F1 or Ctrl+Shift+C.
- fn-row works without any system setting.
- AMD and Intel both run natively. No emulation layer.
- Save folder: %LOCALAPPDATA%Low\Paralives Studio\Paralives\Saves.
Apple Silicon
Apple Silicon and the native build
Paralives on Mac is Apple Silicon-only and runs natively — no Rosetta involved. Steam lists an Apple M2 as the minimum and an M3 as recommended. The cheat console behaves identically across M-series chips; only the framerate ceiling changes.
If the console does not respond, verify file integrity first: in Steam, right-click Paralives → Properties → Installed Files → Verify. Then re-check the fn-row keyboard setting covered above.
Intel Macs are not supported — the Steam store page explicitly requires an Apple processor (M2 minimum). If your Mac predates Apple Silicon, the game will not run.
Four Mac-specific pitfalls
Most threads in r/Paralives about 'cheats not working on Mac' come back to one of these four causes.
Cmd+F1 launches Mission Control
Open System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → Mission Control, and turn off the F1 binding. Paralives can then capture Cmd+F1 directly.
Console panel is invisible after opening
On retina displays, the console renders off-screen if the resolution scale is over 100%. Run SETRESOLUTION 1920x1080 from a different command path (Steam launch options), or drop the in-game scale to 100% in Graphics settings.
Cheat names not recognised
macOS sometimes auto-replaces straight quotes with curly ones in text input. Disable 'Smart Quotes' in System Settings → Keyboard → Text Input → Edit. Cheat names use straight ASCII only.
Steam Input intercepts the shortcut
If you have a controller bound through Steam Input, it can mask Cmd+F1. In Steam: Settings → Controller → uncheck 'Steam Input Per-Game Setting' for Paralives, or unplug the controller before opening the console.
Keep going
More from the Paralives field guide.
100+ Paralives cheats, all categories — money, needs, skills, build, world, debug.
'Codes' is the same as 'cheats'. Glossary view of every console command grouped by intent.
Twelve skill detail pages with cheat commands, level unlocks, and career mappings.
If Paralives won't launch on your Mac, fix startup crashes, Unity errors and freezes — save-safe.