Assassin’s Creed Games Play Order – Chronological and Release Date Guide

Assassin's Creed has been running for almost two decades now, and keeping track of where to start can feel like its own side quest. With Black Flag Resynced now out and pulling in some of the best reviews the series has seen in years, a lot of people are jumping back in or trying the franchise for the first time. So here's a full breakdown of the Assassin's Creed games in order, both by history and by release date, plus where the spin-offs fit and which game actually makes sense to play first.

Assassin's Creed Games in Chronological Order

If you want to follow the story of these assassins from the very beginning, here's the full list arranged by when each game takes place:

1. Assassin's Creed Odyssey (2018)

This is the earliest game in the play order. You play as Kassandra or Alexios, Spartan mercenaries caught in the middle of the Peloponnesian War. Their main enemy is a secret cult trying to take control of Greece. Kassandra is still one of the best protagonists in the series, and the map is huge, with plenty of places to explore.

2. Assassin's Creed Origins (2017)

Assassin's Creed Origins gave the series a fresh start. You play as Bayek, whose journey for revenge takes him across Ancient Egypt. This was the first game to add RPG features like gear levels, a skill tree, and Bayek's eagle, Senu, who helps you scout enemies and locations. If you want to see how the Hidden Ones began, this is where their story starts in Assassin's Creed play order.

3. Assassin's Creed Mirage (2023)

Mirage is a smaller, tighter game on purpose on this play order list, and after three massive RPGs, I actually found that refreshing. Basim's origin story leans hard back into stealth and social blending instead of loot grinding, and you can finish it in under 20 hours if you're not chasing every collectible.

Also Read:

4. Assassin's Creed Valhalla (2020)

Elvor's Viking saga is the biggest game in the series by playtime in this play order list, and it can actually eat 60+ hours of your life. It's the last of the three big RPG entries, and while some players felt burnt out by this point, the raids and settlement building are a lot of fun if you pace yourself.

5. Assassin's Creed (2007)

The one that started it all. Altair's hunt for Templars across Damascus, Acre, and Jerusalem introduced the hidden blade, the leap of faith, and the whole Animus concept in the play order list. It's rough by today's standards and pretty repetitive, but it's worth playing at least once just to see where everything began.

6. Assassin's Creed II (2009)

Ezio Auditore shows up and instantly becomes the fan favorite. This is where the series really clicked, with better combat, a much more human revenge story, and a young Leonardo da Vinci showing up to help you out. If someone asks me where to start with AC, this is usually my answer from the play order list.

7. Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (2010)

Ezio's second outing adds a recruit system where you build your own crew of Assassins to call in for backup, plus Leonardo's war machines to mess around with. It's basically more of what made Assassin's Creed 2 great, and I think it might be the tightest game in the whole Ezio trilogy.

8. Assassin's Creed Revelations (2011)

The finale of Ezio's story sends him to Constantinople to unlock hidden memories from Altaïr, the very first game's hero from the play order list. You get a new hookblade for zipline traversal and craftable bombs, but a lot of fans agree this is where the formula started feeling a little tired.

9. Assassin's Creed Shadows (2025)

Naoe the shinobi and Yasuke the African samurai finally bring Assassin's Creed to Japan, something fans had been asking for since forever. It mixes the old stealth-first gameplay with the RPG systems from Origins onward, and it's the direct lead-in to Black Flag Resynced thanks to a late-game questline connecting the two from the play order list.

10. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (2013)

Edward Kenway's private adventure is still one of the most beloved games in the series from the play order list, and for good reason. Naval combat became a real pillar of the franchise here, and just sailing around singing sea shanties with your crew is somehow still one of the most relaxing things you can do in a video game.

11. Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced (2026)

This is the newest entry, and it's technically a full remake rather than a new story, so it sits right alongside the original in the timeline. Built from scratch on the same engine that powered Shadows, it adds new officer characters, expanded hideout upgrades, reworked parry-based combat, and a photo mode, while cutting the old modern-day Abstergo sections entirely.

I've seen some fans upset about that cut, but the naval combat and Caribbean visuals alone make this worth it if you love Black Flag already. It launched July 9, 2026, and quickly became the best-reviewed AC game since the 2013 original. We have our own Black Flag Resynced Wiki, if you need guides and information about the game.

Also Read:

12. Assassin's Creed Rogue (2014)

Rogue is the only mainline game from the play order list where you play a Templar instead of an Assassin, which is an interesting twist even if the game reuses a lot of assets from Black Flag and Assassin's Creed III. Shay Cormac's fall from Assassin to Templar hunter deserves way more attention than it gets.

13. Assassin's Creed III (2012)

Connor's story during the American Revolution wraps up Desmond Miles' modern-day arc and introduces naval combat for the first time, which Black Flag would later run away with. The setting change from Italy was a big deal at the time, even if the pacing gets criticized a lot.

14. Assassin's Creed Unity (2014)

Unity gets a bad reputation because of its buggy launch, and I get why, but the parkour rework here (finally letting you climb down buildings, not just up) is one of the best traversal systems in the series. Most of the technical issues have long since been patched out.

15. Assassin's Creed Syndicate (2015)

Twins Jacob and Evie Frye take on Templar-controlled London with rope launchers and hijackable carriages, which was the series' first real vehicle mechanic in the play order list. Evie's stealth-focused missions are honestly the better half of this game, though Jacob gets more screen time here.

Assassin's Creed Games Order By Release Date

If you'd rather play the games in the order they actually came out, here's the full release order:

Worth noting that Hexe (also referred to by its earlier codename Hex), a witch trial-era entry, is still in development. Ubisoft has confirmed it's happening, but reports say the project shifted studios and lost development staff earlier in 2026, so there's no firm release date yet.

Assassin's Creed Games Spin-Offs

These games branch off from the main story instead of continuing it directly, which is why I've kept them separate from the two lists above. Great if you're a completionist, but you can skip every one of these and still follow the main Assassin's Creed plot just fine.

Which Assassin's Creed Games Should You Play First?

Honestly, there's no single correct starting point, but here's how I'd break it down depending on what you're into:

Sp that's the complete Assassin's Creed Games play order. And really, there's no wrong door into this series. Pick whichever era sounds coolest to you, and you'll probably end up hooked enough to work backward or forward through the rest anyway.