In less than a month, gamers worldwide will be able to play the 31st Assassin’s Creed game in the form of Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Over the course of the franchise’s near 18-year-long existence, the Assassin’s Creed series has taken players to historical eras and settings all over the globe, with a multitude of engrossing Assassin and Templar protagonists helming the games’ narratives. With a series as vast and complicated as Assassin’s Creed, it may be intimidating or confusing for some new players to choose where to start playing the games. However, there’s a wide variety of options for players new and old to begin playing through the Assassin’s Creed series before Shadows releases.
The following play orders do not include mobile-only releases or expansions.
Related
Assassin’s Creed 3 Remastered Gets New Feature on Steam
The remastered version of 2012’s Assassin’s Creed 3 unexpectedly gets a useful addition for players who own the action-adventure game on Steam.
Assassin’s Creed’s Modern Day Chronological Order
Humanity’s historical past isn’t the only focus of the Assassin’s Creed franchise. For most games, players will embody modern-day Assassins or Templars as they relive their ancestors or other people’s genetic memories through the virtual reality machine called the Animus. This modern-day narrative is the throughline for each consecutive mainline Assassin’s Creed game release, making it best for new players to start playing from Assassin’s Creed 1 to the latest entry, Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR, if they want to understand that storyline. While not every game will follow the same modern-day protagonist or even feature the modern-day as playable sequences, the ongoing present-day battle between the Assassins and the Templars is always happening in the background of each game.
From Assassin’s Creed 1 to 3, players will follow Desmond Miles as he learns about his Assassin and Templar heritage after being kidnapped by Abstergo Industries to relive his ancestors’ memories to identify locations of powerful relics called Pieces of Eden. These games feature the most robust modern-day narrative and gameplay as most successive games will feature the modern-day part of Assassin’s Creed less and less. From Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag to Syndicate, players will follow unnamed Assassin and Templar operatives as they relive memories of famous Assassins and Templars to aid the modern-day factions in circumventing the other. Finally, from Assassin’s Creed Origins to Valhalla, players follow Abstergo researcher turned Assassin Layla Hassan as she relives ancient memories to find Pieces of Eden.
If gamers want to play the Assassin’s Creed series in release order, they will want to start with 2007’s Assassin’s Creed, and then play:
- Assassin’s Creed 2
- Assassin’s Creed Bloodlines
- Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
- Assassin’s Creed Revelations
- Assassin’s Creed 3
- Assassin’s Creed 3: Liberation
- Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag
- Assassin’s Creed Rogue
- Assassin’s Creed Unity
- Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
- Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China
- Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India
- Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: Russia
- Assassin’s Creed Origins
- Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
- Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
- Assassin’s Creed Mirage
- Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR
Potential Setbacks of Playing Assassin’s Creed Games By Release Order
While playing through each Assassin’s Creed game by release order is the best way to understand the overall story, it’s also the longest way to play through the series. Not every game in the series has to be played to understand the modern-day narrative, but there are still 13 mainline Assassin’s Creed games to experience if players just want to understand the main plot, which could be intimidating for some. Additionally, some of the older games may feature gameplay that modern-day players may be confused or frustrated by. For these reasons, players could instead select certain games and storylines to follow based on their protagonists, historical eras, or gameplay, enjoying chunks of the series instead of the entirety of it.
Related
This Forgotten Video Game Movie Arrives On Max In March
Michael Fassbender’s video game adaptation will arrive on Max at the beginning of March.
Assassin’s Creed Orders Based on Historical Protagonists, Eras, and Gameplay
If players just want to learn about Desmond Miles and his heritage with the Assassins and Templars, players could just play Assassin’s Creed 1 to 3. Here players will follow Altaïr Ibn-LaʼAhad, Ezio Auditore, Edward Kenway, Haytham Kenway, and Ratonhnhaké:ton as they learn how Miles’ family shaped both the Assassin and Templar Orders and the world. These games will additionally let players explore interesting historical eras and settings, including the Third Crusade Holy Land, Italian Renaissance, 16th century Constantinople, Golden Age of Piracy, French and Indian War, and American Revolution. In terms of gameplay, these games feature Assassin’s Creed’s original stealth-focused gameplay the series became famous for, as well as addictive 18th century ship combat that inspired 2024’s Skull and Bones.
Desmond’s Saga Order
Assassin’s Creed → Assassin’s Creed 2 → Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood → Assassin’s Creed Revelations → Assassin’s Creed 3
For players who want to play more open-world games with RPG elements and more direct combat, they could play Assassin’s Creed Origins to Valhalla. Here players will follow Bayek of Siwa, Aya of Alexandria, Kassandra of Sparta, and Eivor Varinsdottir as they built or influenced the Hidden Ones and Order of the Ancients, which slowly transitioned into the Assassin Brotherhood and Templar Order. These games will additionally let players explore ancient eras in massive open worlds, including Ptolemaic Egypt, Peloponnesian War Greece, and Viking Age Europe. The only connective ties between these games are Layla Hassan and their gameplay.
Open-World RPG Order
Assassin’s Creed Origins → Assassin’s Creed Odyssey → Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
Alternative Assassin’s Creed Playthrough Orders
There are alternate groups of games in the Assassin’s Creed series that can be played in unconventional orders for players who just want to follow one character, organization, or historical time period. For instance, if players just want to follow Ezio and the Renaissance, they could play Assassin’s Creed 2, Brotherhood, Revelations, Chronicles: China, and Nexus VR. If players just want to see the transition of the Hidden Ones into the Assassin Brotherhood, they could play Assassin’s Creed Origins, Mirage, Valhalla, and 1. Additionally, if players want to see the fall and rise of the American and European Assassin Brotherhoods in the 18th and 19th centuries, they could play Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag, Freedom Cry, Rogue, 3, Nexus VR, Liberation, Unity, and Syndicate.
If players want to play the Assassin’s Creed series in historical chronological order, they’ll have to start with Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and then play:
- Assassin’s Creed Origins
- Assassin’s Creed Mirage
- Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
- Assassin’s Creed 1
- Assassin’s Creed Bloodlines
- Assassin’s Creed 2
- Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood
- Assassin’s Creed Revelations
- Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China
- Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag
- Assassin’s Creed Rogue
- Assassin’s Creed 3
- Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR
- Assassin’s Creed 3: Liberation
- Assassin’s Creed Unity
- Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India
- Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
- Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: Russia.
- Released
-
March 20, 2025
- ESRB
-
Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language