How to play the Assassin's Creed games in order

The Assassin's Creed series is a sprawling franchise that spans thousands of years, features dual-timelines, and shifts up the historic setting with each mainline entry. From Ancient Greece to Victorian England, the series jumps through major points in history as it charts the age-old battle between the Templars and the Assassins.

For newcomers just looking for a bit of stealth and parkour action, it may seem daunting trying to figure out where exactly is the best point to dive into this franchise. If you're struggling to know which game to start with in Ubisoft's iconic series, then our Assassin's Creed games order guide is here to help.

We'll walk you through how to play the Assassin's Creed series in order, with a rundown on how to play all AC games in both release and chronological order.

How to play the Assassin's Creed games in order

The Assassin's Creed series has built up a dense amount of lore during the course of its 17-year history. If you're just getting started and want to experience everything it has to offer, there are two main ways you can tackle the series.

The first way is to just go through each game in the series in release date order. Playing the series this way will help you get the best grasp on the overarching story that connects the games, along with the tidbits of lore as it's introduced. It does mean you'll be starting with the oldest games first though, so you'll have to go through a lot of retro games before you reach the more modern titles - although retro in this case only means the Xbox 360/PS3 era.

The other way to approach the series would be to play it in chronological order - going through each major period in history and moving through the centuries towards the present day. It's important to note though that the vast majority of Assassin's Creed games have dual timelines - the main story in the game's historic setting, along with a secondary timeline set during the modern age. If you play the games in chronological order you'll end up experiencing the modern storyline, which develops throughout the series, out of sync.

If this sounds confusing, thankfully each Assassin's Creed game can still be enjoyed as a standalone experience - especially since the majority of your playtime is in the game's historic setting. For those pressed for time, who don't want to play every game in the series, just start with whichever one appeals to you the most. Like Vikings? Then kick things off with Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Or are you more into the pirate theme of Black Flag? Then simply start there.

Assassin's Creed release date order

The Assassin's Creed franchise has 13 main games, along with 17 spin-off titles. To keep things simple, we'll stick to the mainline games, which for the most part can easily be played on modern platforms. The only exception to this is the original Assassin's Creed, which can be played across Xbox consoles thanks to backwards compatibility and on PC, but for PlayStation fans is currently only available on the PS3.

If you want to get the most out of the Assassin's Creed franchise, and have time to spare, then here's how to play the AC games in release order:

Assassin's Creed (2007)

Assassin's Creed is the game that kickstarted Ubisoft's beloved franchise. Set in 1198 during the time of the Crusades, players take control of Altair - an Assassin operating in the Holy Land. The Assassin Brotherhood he is part of is at war with the Templar Order, who are both fighting to gain mysterious artefacts known as the Pieces of Eden.

There's also a secondary playable character, Desmond Miles, with his story set in the present day. Desmond, who is a descendant of Altair, has been kidnapped and is being held at a research facility run by the shadowy corporation Abstergo Industries. There, he's able to be transported back to Altair's time and access his memories through a machine called the Animus.

When it was first released, the original Assassin's Creed was highly anticipated after an impressive showing previously at E3. The game laid the foundations for the entire series, with its mix of parkour exploration, stealth sequences, and parry-based combat. Other series staples like the hidden blade and the Leap of Faith jump were also introduced in this game.

If you'd like to know more, read our Assassin's Creed review from back when the game launched in 2007.

AC1 is available to play on: PS3, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S (via backwards compatibility) and PC

Assassin's Creed 2 (2009)

Assassin's Creed 2 is arguably the point where the series really began to hit its stride. It took the foundations the first game had laid and expanded on it significantly, adding more varied missions, a wider array of stealth mechanics, and a deeper combat system with the ability to now disarm enemies.

Set in Italy during the Renaissance period, Assassin's Creed 2 offers a vaster open-world than its predecessor, with multiple cities for players to explore including Venice and Florence, and historical characters to meet like Leonardo da Vinci and Niccolò Machiavelli. It also introduced the franchise's longest running protagonist, the fan favourite Ezio. The charming assassin is on a mission to avenge the death of his father and brothers, and along the way learns more about the Templar Order, the series' ever present antagonist. Besides Ezio's story, Assassin's Creed 2 also continues the modern day narrative with Desmond at the beginning of the game rescued from Abstergo Industries.

Assassin's Creed 2 was the start of a trilogy of games featuring Ezio, which is widely available on modern formats and is also included in the PS Plus library. If you'd like to know more, read our Assassin's Creed 2 review from 2009. In it, we call Ezio's debut game "a classic open-world adventure, filled to the brim with things you want to do and the narrative motivation to continue doing them".

AC2 is available to play on: PS3, PS4, PS5 (via backwards compatibility), Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S (via backwards compatibility), Switch and PC

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (2010)

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood was released just a year after AC2, and began a period of yearly releases for Ubisoft's franchise. It's the second game in the Ezio trilogy and is a direct sequel to Assassin's Creed 2. Set at the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century, the action this time takes place in Rome.

The Italian capital is under Templar control, and it's up to Ezio to liberate the city by rebuilding the Assassin Brotherhood. Brotherhood also continued the modern day story, with Desmond searching for the Pieces of Eden and trying to avert an end of days prophecy.

In our Assassin's Creed Brotherhood review, we called it "one of the best games of 2010", praising its densely packed open-world which still manages to maintain "such high quality".

AC Brotherhood is available to play on: PS3, PS4, PS5 (via backwards compatibility), Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S (via backwards compatibility), Switch and PC

Assassin's Creed Revelations (2011)

Assassin's Creed Revelations is the final game in the Ezio trilogy. Set during 1511 and 1512, players take control of an aged Ezio who is now in Constantinople. The assassin has ventured away from his native Italy to the capital of the Ottoman Empire, as he searches for the keys needed to unlock a hidden library built by Altair, the main character of the first Assassin's Creed.

But Ezio isn't the only one trying to get into this library, with the Templars hunting for the keys to it as well. Revelations also continues the modern day story, with Desmond now in a coma following the events of Brotherhood, but he is still able to use the Animus and relive his ancestors' memories.

For more on Ezio's swansong, read our Assassin's Creed Revelations review from when the game released in 2011.

AC Revelations is available to play on: PS3, PS4, PS5 (via backwards compatibility), Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S (via backwards compatibility), Switch and PC

Assassin's Creed 3 (2012)

Assassin's Creed 3 jumps the time forward a few centuries, to Colonial America in the 1800s. With the Ezio trilogy now wrapped up, players take control of a new protagonist - the half-Mohawk assassin Connor. It marks one of the first triple-A games to feature a Native American as the main character. Like with the upcoming Assassin's Creed Shadows, Ubisoft worked with cultural experts to depict Mohawk culture as accurately as possible.

Set in New York, Boston and the Frontier, Connor is at the heart of the fight to protect his tribe from the American Revolution. A secondary playable character, a British Templar called Haytham Kenway who is also Connor's father, is playable during the prologue as well.

As with other Assassin's Creed games, during AC3 Connor will cross paths with important historical figures including George Washington and Benjamin Franklin. Assassin's Creed 3 also wraps up Desmond's story in the modern timeline, with the fight to stop the predicted apocalypse in 2012 drawing to a close.

In our Assassin's Creed 3 review from the game's launch, we described it as "the biggest and richest Assassin's Creed game to date - maybe not the best, but a place where, for want of a better expression, everything is permitted".

AC3 is available to play on: PS3, PS4, PS5 (via backwards compatibility), Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S (via backwards compatibility), Wii U, Switch and PC

Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag (2013)

Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag is one of the most beloved entries in Ubisoft's franchise. It stood out from previous entries in the series with its introduction of naval battles and an upgradable ship that players use to explore the game's Caribbean setting.

Set in the 1700s prior to the events of Assassin's Creed 3, players take control of Edward Kenway, a notorious pirate and eventual member of the Brotherhood of Assassins. Edward is the grandfather of the third game's protagonist Connor, and the father of the same game's antagonist Haytham. Edward is travelling the seas looking for a mysterious location called the Observatory, which both the Assassins and the Templars are searching for.

Besides naval exploration, there are three main cities that players can explore - Kingston, Havana and Nassau. This is in addition to numerous other islands in the game's open-world, along with sunken ships and forts. Black Flag also has a modern day story where an employee at Abstergo is researching Edward, supposedly for an interactive film about the infamous pirate.

In our Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag review, we said: "Edward doesn't have the impish wit of fan favourite Ezio Auditore, against whom all Assassin's Creed protagonists are destined to be measured, but in the end he felt more rounded to me. The revelation, though, is the treasure of a game he stars in." If you've never played Black Flag before, it is available on a wide range of platforms and a remake is reportedly in the works too.

AC Black Flag is available to play on: PS3, PS4, PS5 (via backwards compatibility), Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S (via backwards compatibility), Wii U, Switch, and PC

Assassin's Creed Rogue (2014)

Assassin's Creed Rogue is the final game released on the seventh generation of consoles, which is where the franchise began. It's set between the events of Assassin's Creed 3 and 4, with players taking control of Shay Cormac, a former member of the Brotherhood of Assassins who defects to the Templars after becoming disillusioned with their tactics. It's the first time in the series that players get to take control of a Templar, with the plot muddying the waters of who really are the good guys.

Set between 1752 and 1760, the action takes place in New York, the fictitious River Valley, and in the North Atlantic Ocean. Like Black Flag before it, Rogue is a mixture of naval-based battles and land exploration. It also marks the return of Haytham Kenway - the antagonist of the third Assassin's Creed game who appears throughout Rogue's story.

With the Desmond story wrapped up in Assassin's Creed 3, Rogue follows in the footsteps of Black Flag by having the modern story told from the viewpoint of an Abstergo employee. This time around, players take control of an unnamed employee who has to live out Shay's memories through the Animus.

In our Assassin's Creed Rogue review, we said: "It's a shame that being a Templar isn't very different to being an Assassin (given that Haytham Kenway turns up occasionally, bristling with charisma, you could also argue they made a game about the wrong Templar), but if you remember Black Flag fondly and fancy a bit more of that, this is actually pretty great."

AC Rogue is available to play on: PS3, PS4, PS5 (via backwards compatibility), Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S (via backwards compatibility), Wii U, Switch, and PC

Assassin's Creed Unity (2014)

Assassin's Creed Unity brings the series back to Europe, with the eighth mainline game in the series set in Paris during the time of the French Revolution. Players take control of Arno Dorian, a nobleman who becomes an assassin after he is framed for the murder of the Templar who raised him.

Like other Assassin's Creed games, Unity features important historical figures of the time including Napoleon Bonaparte, King Louis XVI and Marquis de Sade. Unity was also the first game in the series to introduce co-operative gameplay, with four player co-op available on certain missions.

Unity also has a modern storyline, which focuses on an unnamed character who has to relive Arno's memories through the Helix gaming software which Abstergo has released to the public. This time around though the present day plot is just told through cutscenes, with no gameplay sections.

In our Assassin's Creed Unity review, we said it "feels like a missed opportunity", with "mild improvements in traversal and combat" that are "quickly overwhelmed by the creaking systems onto which they have been grafted".

AC Unity is available to play on: PS4, PS5 (via backwards compatibility), Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S (via backwards compatibility), Luna, and PC

Assassin's Creed Syndicate (2015)

Assassin's Creed Syndicate brings the main campaign closer to the present day than ever before. This time around, the main story is set in Victorian London and follows the assassin duo of Jacob and Evie Fryre. The twin siblings are trying to wrestle control of London from the Templar-run gangs that are plaguing the city, and to stop the Templars from finding a Piece of Eden. In the modern day story, the Helix player from Assassin's Creed Unity heads to London in search of the Piece of Eden as well.

Players also get to control Jacob's granddaughter, Lydia Fryre, in segments set during the First World War. Throughout Syndicate's campaign, the Fryes are aided in their fight against the Templars by pivotal figures of the era like Charles Dickens, Charles Darwin, Florence Nightingale, Alexander Graham Bell and Karl Marx.

Syndicate is the first game in the Assassin's Creed series to have a female main character, and the first game with dual protagonists that players can switch between. It also marks the last traditional game in the series before Ubisoft rebooted the franchise a few years later.

In our Assassin's Creed Syndicate review, we said: "Hopefully Syndicate's legacy is its memorable cast of characters, its entertaining script and - most importantly - how it manages to recapture the series' sense of fun".

AC Syndicate is available to play on: PS4, PS5 (via backwards compatibility), Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S (via backwards compatibility), Luna, and PC

Assassin's Creed Origins (2017)

Assassin's Creed Origins was a soft reboot of Ubisoft's franchise, refreshing some of the series' long-standing staples. It was in development for four years, and marked the end of Ubisoft's yearly release cycle for the series which had started with Assassin's Creed 2. While previous games were focused on stealth action gameplay, Origins reinvented the franchise by turning it into more of an open-world, action RPG. Combat received a big overhaul too, with free-flowing fights which now offered more variety to battles.

Origins also jumps the timeline of the main campaign back almost 2,000 years to Ancient Egypt. Players take control of Bayek, who is out for revenge along with his wife Aya after the murder of their son. On their quest for revenge, they'll encounter icons of that era like Cleopatra and Julius Caesar. Origins also reboots the modern day storyline, with a new main character for the present day plot called Layla Hassan. Layla is an Abstergo researcher who relives Bayek and Aya's memories through the Animus. Like Desmond before her, Layla's story continues in multiple games.

In our Assassin's Creed Origins review we said: "Assassin's Creed remains a wonderfully foolhardy game in terms of its ambition and its generosity, even if it is no longer quite as distinct as it once was."

AC Origins is available to play on: PS4, PS5 (via backwards compatibility), Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S (via backwards compatibility), Luna and PC

Assassin's Creed Odyssey (2018)

Assassin's Creed Odyssey continued the new action-RPG approach for the series that Origins began. The main campaign is set at the earliest point in history for the franchise, around 400 BC when Athens and Sparta were at war. Players have two main characters to choose from, the siblings Alexios and Kassandra.

The character you choose is nicknamed the Eagle Bearer, and is a legendary mercenary who was exiled from Spartan society as a child after trying to protect their younger sibling. They now fight for both sides of the war. Odyssey also continues the modern day storyline of Layla Hassan, who is searching for the mythological Staff of Hermes.

Like other Assassin's Creed games, during the main campaign players will encounter historical figures of that era like Sokrates, Euripides and Democritus. Unlike other games in the series though, the main campaign of Odyssey is set before the Assassins and Templar conflict.

In our Assassin's Creed Odyssey review, we said: "Odyssey is an enormous game - certainly one of the biggest, if not the biggest game Ubisoft has ever made. It's an astonishing creation, extraordinarily generous and solidly crafted, and like its namesake is something that will live long in the telling."

AC Odyssey is available to play on: PS4, PS5 (via backwards compatibility), Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S (via backwards compatibility), Luna and PC

Assassin's Creed Valhalla (2020)

Assassin's Creed Valhalla was available at launch for the current generation of consoles. It's the first time the series has ventured into the era of the Vikings, and like its predecessor let players control either a male or female main character called Eivor, who gets caught up in the conflict between the Assassins and the Templars. Set between 872 and 878 at the time of the Viking expeditions to the British Isles, players can explore London, York and Winchester, along with parts of Norway.

Historical figures that Eivor will encounter in their expedition include Alfred the Great, while Norse mythological figures like Odin and Loki's son Fenrir play a prominent role as well. Valhalla also introduces a major supporting character called Basim, a street thief from Baghdad who gets to star in his own game later. The modern day storyline of Layla Hassan appears to get wrapped up too.

In our Assassin's Creed Valhalla review, we said: "It is a Viking saga which does at times struggle a little in reaching its destiny, and in its efforts to evolve the series has made some sacrifices to tell a stronger overall story. But it wins through, in the end quite easily, as it continues the Assassin's Creed saga for a new generation."

AC Valhalla is available to play on: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Luna and PC

Assassin's Creed Mirage (2023)

Assassin's Creed Mirage is a return to the series' roots. The most recent entry in the franchise, which was originally meant to be an expansion for Valhalla, goes back to the style seen in the pre-Origins games, which were more focused on stealth action gameplay. Players take control of Basim, who first appeared in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, with the action now shifting to Baghdad during the Islamic Golden Age. It takes place a decade before the events of Valhalla, and shows how Basim became an assassin.

Like previous games in the series, important historical figures from the time Mirage is set make an appearance, including Ali ibn Muhammad who led the Zanj Rebellion against slavery. Unlike other games in the series, Mirage by and large doesn't have a prominent modern day story.

In our Assassin's Creed Mirage review, we said: "Through the warmth of familiar rituals returning after those bigger, rangier games, I get to see what's really special about this series, what it takes to create, perhaps, and what it can give us in return."

AC Mirage is available to play on: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, iOS and PC

Assassin's Creed chronological order

Here's how you can play the main games in the Assassin's Creed series in chronological order, if you're more interested in going through each historic age starting with the oldest first:

• Assassin's Creed Odyssey (431 BC - 422 BC)
• Assassin's Creed Origins (49 BC - 44 BC)
• Assassin's Creed Mirage (861 AD)
• Assassin's Creed Valhalla (872 - 878)
• Assassin's Creed (1191)
• Assassin's Creed II (1476 - 1499)
• Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (1499 - 1507)
• Assassin's Creed Revelations (1511 - 1512)
• Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (1715 - 1722)
• Assassin's Creed Rogue (1752 - 1760)
• Assassin's Creed III (1754 - 1783)
• Assassin's Creed Unity (1789 - 1794)
• Assassin's Creed Syndicate (1868)

If you do decide to play the Assassin's Creed series in chronological order, just bear in mind that you will experience the modern day storyline out of sync, as the overarching plot progresses in release date order.

Assassin's Creed spin-off games

Besides the mainline games, there are also 17 spin-off games in the Assassin's Creed series. Some of these games, however, are no longer playable as they are now defunct mobile apps or were only playable on a web browser.

In case you're interested, here are all the Assassin's Creed spin-off games and when they were released:

• Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles - (2008)
• Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines - (2009)
• Assassin's Creed II: Discovery - (2009)
• Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy - (2010)
• Assassin's Creed: Multiplayer Rearmed - (2011)
• Assassin's Creed: Recollection - (2011)
• Assassin's Creed III: Liberation - (2012)
• Assassin's Creed: Pirates - (2013)
• Assassin's Creed Freedom Cry - (2014)
• Assassin's Creed: Memories - (2014)
• Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China - (2015)
• Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India - (2016)
• Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia - (2016)
• Assassin's Creed Identity - (2016)
• Assassin's Creed Unity: Arno's Chronicles - (2017)
• Assassin's Creed Rebellion - (2018)
• Assassin's Creed Nexus VR - (2023)

What's next for the Assassin's Creed series?

Assassin's Creed Shadows is the next mainline game in Ubisoft's beloved stealth series. It's the first game in the franchise developed solely for the ninth generation of consoles and PCs, and it brings the series to a setting fans have long requested - Japan during the age of ninjas and samurais.

It was originally meant to release in November 2024, but has now been delayed until February 2025. The franchise's boss Marc-Alexis Coté told Eurogamer that the delay was necessary to change the "narrative" of Ubisoft's "inconsistency in quality". Coté also spoke to us about the "struggle" of telling a consistent modern story after Desmond Miles, and the devastating impact of the online backlash that followed Shadows' reveal, which bad faith commentators had jumped on after a legendary African samurai, who is historically accurate, was revealed as one of the protagonists.

Besides Shadows, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has confirmed multiple Assassin's Creed remakes are in the works, with one of them believed to be a remake of Black Flag, the much-loved fourth mainline game in the series which introduced naval battles. Back in 2022 Ubisoft also announced a hub platform for the series called Assassin's Creed Infinity which will host past and future games. Other upcoming games were announced at the time, including Assassin's Creed Codename Hexe, which is believed to be an RPG-style game launching in 2026 that's set in 16th century Europe, and Codename Jade which is a mobile game that looks to be launching in 2025. An Assassin's Creed multiplayer game that's reportedly inspired by Fall Guys is also in the works.

That's a wrap on our guide for how to play the Assassin's Creed series in order. For more on Ubisoft's iconic series, find out how the Collector's Edition of Assassin's Creed Shadows is changing following the game's delay till 2025. We've also got details on how future games in the series could have longer development times, and how Assassin's Creed helped inspire the opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics.