What is the Best Order to Play The Legend of Zelda Games?

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home February 26, 2025 61 Views 11 Min Read
What is the Best Order to Play The Legend of Zelda Games?



The Legend of Zelda series has been going for almost 40 years, and it now consists of more than 20 mainline titles. While, in general, those titles can be played in any order without creating major issues, players who are interested in playing through the series in its entirety may wonder if there is a specific order that they should follow. While this is a somewhat complicated topic, there are definitely several orders that players should consider when making a deep dive into The Legend of Zelda games.

Arguments can be made for pursuing orders beyond the three that are detailed here. That said, all the following approaches are perfectly reasonable and will lead to an excellent experience with the Zelda series.

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In What Order Should You Play the Zelda Games?

Release Order

The most obvious way to approach the Zelda games is to play them in the order of their release, starting with The Legend of Zelda from 1986 and ending with 2024’s Echoes of Wisdom. One of the primary benefits of this approach is that it allows the player to directly experience the evolution that the series has undergone over its near-40-year history, which can certainly be quite illuminating.

That said, the first two Zelda games can prove to be quite inscrutable, particularly if the player does not have much experience with NES-era titles, and players may be loath to continue with the series if they have a frustrating introductory experience. Additionally, while the NES games do contain some of the series’ foundational elements, including Ganon and the Triforce, they are relatively light on lore. This means that it will take players who go in release order quite a while to get a proper introduction to the Zelda world that so many fans love.

In summary, if a player’s primary interest is to have firsthand experience of how the series has changed, and they are unbothered by the challenges that come with starting with the NES games, then they should follow the release order of the Zelda titles, which is as follows:

  1. The Legend of Zelda (1986)
  2. The Adventure of Link (1987)
  3. A Link to the Past (1991)
  4. Link’s Awakening (1993)
  5. Ocarina of Time (1998)
  6. Majora’s Mask (2000)
  7. Oracle of Seasons & Oracle of Ages (2001)
  8. Four Swords (2002)
  9. The Wind Waker (2002)
  10. Four Swords Adventure (2004)
  11. The Minish Cap (2004)
  12. Twilight Princess (2006)
  13. Phantom Hourglass (2007)
  14. Spirit Tracks (2009)
  15. Skyward Sword (2011)
  16. A Link Between Worlds (2013)
  17. Tri Force Heroes (2015)
  18. Breath of the Wild (2017)
  19. Tears of the Kingdom (2023)
  20. Echoes of Wisdom (2024)

Modified Order

While there is definitely an argument to be made for playing the games in release order, players can get a better introductory experience, and a more-straightforward presentation of Zelda‘s lore, by playing a selection of titles first. Specifically, it is recommended that players play Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, The Wind Waker, A Link to the Past, and Link’s Awakening first, as those titles are accessible and lay the foundation upon which the series’ world is built.

Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, and The Wind Waker have a narrative through line, as do A Link to the Past and Link’s Awakening. That is part of the reason that players are advised to group all these titles, rather than just playing two or three of them.

With respect to the order in which players should play those five games, there are two options that are recommended. Here are those options, and players who want to start with Zelda games that are in 3D and feel more “modern” are advised to go with the first, while players who are interested in 2D Zelda should go with the second:

3D Zelda First

  1. Ocarina of Time (1998)
  2. Majora’s Mask (2000)
  3. The Wind Waker (2002)
  4. A Link to the Past (1991)
  5. Link’s Awakening (1993)

2D Zelda First

  1. A Link to the Past (1991)
  2. Link’s Awakening (1993)
  3. Ocarina of Time (1998)
  4. Majora’s Mask (2000)
  5. The Wind Waker (2002)

After completing those five games, it is recommended that players return to the original The Legend of Zelda and play through the remaining titles in release order. Indeed, the series’ earliest entries should now be more palatable, and, for the sake of full clarity, here is the order of the remaining games:

  1. The Legend of Zelda (1986)
  2. The Adventure of Link (1987)
  3. Oracle of Seasons & Oracle of Ages (2001)
  4. Four Swords (2002)
  5. Four Swords Adventure (2004)
  6. The Minish Cap (2004)
  7. Twilight Princess (2006)
  8. Phantom Hourglass (2007)
  9. Spirit Tracks (2009)
  10. Skyward Sword (2011)
  11. A Link Between Worlds (2013)
  12. Tri Force Heroes (2015)
  13. Breath of the Wild (2017)
  14. Tears of the Kingdom (2023)
  15. Echoes of Wisdom (2024)
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“Chronological” Order

The Zelda timeline is a frequent topic of conversation among the community, and some players might argue that the series should be played in “chronological” order. This approach has the benefit of allowing some of the stories that are told across multiple games to be presented in an uninterrupted fashion, but there are two things of which players should be aware before they pursue this option:

  1. The timeline has branching paths. This means that, at some point, the player will need to decide the order in which they want to play through the paths, as they operate independently of one another.
  2. The first games in the timeline do not contain the furthest-past events in the history of Zelda‘s universe. While players should be able to understand where those events fit into the timeline when they encounter them, in games like A Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time, they will not be getting a straightforward chronology even if they follow the timeline.

If a player is unbothered by those aspects of the timeline, here is how they should go about playing the Zelda series in chronological order:

The Legend of the Goddess and the Hero (Play First)

  1. Skyward Sword (2011)
  2. The Minish Cap (2004)
  3. Four Swords (2002)
  4. Ocarina of Time (1998)

The Hero is Defeated Timeline (Option 1)

  1. A Link to the Past (1991)
  2. Link’s Awakening (1993)
  3. Oracle of Ages & Oracle of Seasons (2001)
  4. A Link Between Worlds (2013)
  5. Tri Force Heroes (2015)
  6. Echoes of Wisdom (2024)
  7. The Legend of Zelda (1986)
  8. The Adventure of Link (1987)

The Hero is Triumphant Timeline – Child Era (Option 2)

  1. Majora’s Mask (2000)
  2. Twilight Princess (2006)
  3. Four Swords Adventures (2004)

The Hero is Triumphant Timleline – Adult Era (Option 3)

  1. The Wind Waker (2002)
  2. Phantom Hourglass (2007)
  3. Spirit Tracks (2009)

Not Classified (Play Last)

  1. Breath of the Wild (2017)
  2. Tears of the Kingdom (2023)

Players Should Not Be Afraid to Skip Zelda Games

Regardless of the order that a player opts to pursue, they should keep one important fact in mind: it is absolutely fine to skip a Zelda entry if it is proving to be too difficult or simply not fun. Indeed, while there is value to playing through every game, players should prioritize their continued enjoyment of the series over all else. Fans should also feel free to skip entries that may prove prohibitively difficult to access, such as the GameCube-exclusive Four Swords Adventures, as those titles can definitely make it hard to complete a full playthrough of the series.

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