Questions

Overcooked 2 on a Mac with controllers

Yes: Overcooked 2 has a Mac version on Steam, with full controller support and shared-screen co-op, so a kitchen of friends on one Mac is exactly what it was made for. Most of the work is on the Mac side: getting every controller paired and seen.

This page goes through that, what to do about the one pad that will not join, and how to bring in an extra cook from the keyboard with InputConfig, the free mapper I make.

On this page: 7 sections
  1. Steps
  2. Pair every controller with the Mac
  3. If one controller will not join
  4. Add an extra cook on the keyboard
  5. Keep the kitchen calm
  6. The short version
  7. Questions

Steps

  1. Pair each controller in System Settings, Bluetooth, one at a time.
  2. Check every pad lights up under System Settings, Game Controllers.
  3. Launch Overcooked 2 and press a button on each pad in the join screen.
  4. For a pad the game ignores, map it to the keyboard player's keys with InputConfig.

Pair every controller with the Mac

  • You: Pair each controller in System Settings, Bluetooth, one at a time. Make sure none of them is still paired to a console, because a pad that belongs to a PlayStation or a Switch keeps trying to go back to it.
  • macOS: Lists each one under Game Controllers.
  • Check: Open System Settings, click Game Controllers in the sidebar, and press a button on each; every one should be listed and light up.

Pairing steps for each kind: PS5, Xbox, Switch Pro, Joy-Cons. A Mac's Bluetooth handles a few controllers well, and more than that can get crowded. Two or more controllers on a Mac has more. If one starts lagging, plug it in with a cable instead.

If one controller will not join

Climb this ladder, smallest step first:

  1. Connect before you launch. Connect every pad before you open the game, then press a button on each in the join screen.
  2. Flip the override. On Steam, flip Overcooked 2's Steam Input override under Properties, Controller, and relaunch. Why that matters.
  3. Use a mapper. Two identical pads that act as one, or a third-party pad that the game does not list, are where InputConfig helps. It gives every connected controller its own slot, and in 1.6 two identical controllers can go to two players.

Connect every pad before launch; it is the cheapest fix to try.

Download InputConfig on the Mac App StoreInputConfig is free on the Mac App Store. macOS 14 or later, no account, no tracking, open source.

Add an extra cook on the keyboard

The game supports keyboard players as well as controllers, and the keyboard can even be split between two people. That is the way in for a controller the game will not see: let InputConfig turn that pad into the keyboard player's keys, so the game sees a keyboard cook and the person holds a controller.

  • You: Check the keys on the game's controls screen first. Then make a new preset in InputConfig, choose Automatically insert available inputs for that controller's group only, and give its left stick the movement keys and its buttons the rest.
  • InputConfig: Sends that pad's presses as the keyboard player's keys. The other controllers stay with the game's own support, untouched.
  • Check: Join the keyboard cook from the same join screen as the controller cooks.

The solo keyboard defaults are commonly listed as W, A, S and D to move, Space to pick up and put down, Control to chop and throw, Option (Alt) to dash and E to emote. Map only the pad the game ignores; leave the others to the game.

Keep the kitchen calm

  • A color for the keyboard cook. Give the extra cook's pad a light bar color of its own if it is a PlayStation pad, so everyone knows which one is the keyboard player.
  • A panel per pad. The Live Visualizer shows one panel per controller, drawn as the real model, so you can see every pad's presses before the first order comes in.
  • Only in the game. Turn on the preset only while the game is in front: add Overcooked 2 under Activate when these apps are in front, and switch on Switch presets when the front app changes in Settings, Advanced.

Check every pad in the Live Visualizer before the first order, and nobody discovers a dead controller mid-level.

The short version

  • Pair. One pad at a time, none still tied to a console.
  • Join. Connect every pad before launch, then press a button on each.
  • The odd one out. Map it to the keyboard player's keys with InputConfig.

Up to four cooks on one Mac, and the pad nobody else can use still gets a seat.

Questions

How many controllers can I use with Overcooked 2 on a Mac?

The game supports up to four local players. How many controllers a Mac's Bluetooth carries comfortably varies; past two or three, a cable for some of them helps.

Can I play Overcooked 2 on a Mac with a keyboard and a controller together?

Yes. The game supports keyboard players, and the keyboard can even be split between two people. Join the keyboard cook and the controller cooks from the same join screen.

Why does only one of my two identical controllers work?

First check both are listed under Game Controllers in System Settings. If they are, flip the Steam Input override for the game and relaunch. If the game still treats them as one, map the second to the keyboard player's keys with InputConfig, which reads two identical controllers as two players.

Download InputConfig on the Mac App StoreFree. macOS 14 or later. No account, nothing leaves your Mac. Open source on GitHub.