Playing the Assassin's Creed games in order can be a daunting task, with more than 18 games that jump around to different periods in history and tell a centuries-spanning metanarrative that's meant to unfold in a specific order. If you're wondering where to begin with the wealth of games on sale until May 21 from the Ubisoft Store and included with a Ubisoft+ subscription (or are just curious to know what their release order is), here's a quick guide listing the Assassin's Creed games in order, and what each one brought to the centuries-spanning party.
Assassin's Creed (2007)
The first game introduced Desmond Miles, a modern-day captive forced to experience the memories of his ancestor Altaïr, a member of the historical Assassins during the Third Crusade in 1191. While hunting members of the Knights Templar, players climb and parkour through Damascus, Acre, and Jerusalem, pursuing a web of assassination targets until the seemingly unconnected dots coalesce into an ominous picture of conspiracy and betrayal.
Assassin's Creed II (2009)
As Desmond is freed from captivity by modern-day Assassins, players are introduced to another Assassin ancestor: the dashing young Ezio Auditore da Firenze, who operates during the Italian Renaissance. Imagining a world where Assassins and Templars secretly fought to control history, the game greatly expands players' arsenal of tricks for a compelling yarn of conspiracy, revenge - and the hidden origins of humanity.
Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (2010)
The second chapter of the Ezio trilogy brings an older Ezio to Rome, where he wages a clandestine war against the Templar-connected Borgia family, all while testing Leonardo da Vinci's war machines and buying up the city's businesses to create a small empire for the Assassins - who players can recruit from the citizenry and call upon to fight or assassinate enemies for them.
Assassin's Creed Revelations (2011)
Ezio's final adventure brings players to Constantinople (modern Istanbul) on the trail of artifacts that let him relive hidden memories of Altaïr. A new hookblade lets Ezio slide down ziplines and launch himself up walls, while an arsenal of craftable bombs offer a range of effects to keep Templar enemies in disarray.
Assassin's Creed III (2012)
Desmond's story concludes in Assassin's Creed III, which unfolds during the 18th-century American Revolution as experienced by the half-English/half-Native American Assassin Connor. A total revamp of the series' gameplay set in Boston, New York, and a vast frontier, it introduced wilderness free-running and the ability to hide in tall vegetation (both present in its companion game, Assassin's Creed Liberation, set in New Orleans and starring Aveline de Grandpré), as well as the series' first brush with naval combat.
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (2013)
Assassin's Creed IV takes that naval combat and spins it into a Caribbean open world, letting players freely alternate between embodying pirate-turned-Assassin Edward Kenway and steering his upgradable ship to plunder other vessels and demolish sea forts. Assassin's Creed Freedom Cry continues the story with Edward's first mate Adéwalé, who battles slavers and Templars around Saint Domingue (modern Haiti).
Assassin's Creed Rogue (2014)
Continuing the seafaring mold, Rogue is set around the time of the Seven Years' War in New York, a northeastern River Valley, and the icy North Atlantic. It's also the only Assassin's Creed to star a Templar, as ex-Assassin Shay Cormac switches sides and experiences the business end of Assassin tactics in a continual game of cat-and-mouse.
Assassin's Creed Unity (2014)
Released the same year as Rogue, Unity is set during the French Revolution in a 1:1 model of Paris. Reinventing the franchise's parkour to enable upward and downward traversal, it also features a new combat system that greatly expands players' weapon choice and replaces earlier games' instant-kill reversals with timed parries.
Assassin's Creed Chronicles (2015-2016)
A trilogy of 2.5D action-stealth games set in 16th-century China, 19th-century India, and early 20th-century Russia, Assassin's Creed Chronicles casts players as Shao Jun, Arbaaz Mir, and Nikolai Orelov who sneak and use the environment to their advantage while tracking an artifact known as the Precursor box.
Assassin's Creed Syndicate (2015)
Set in Victorian London during the Industrial Revolution, Syndicate introduces trains and hijackable carriages (which double as mobile hiding spots for players and/or their victims), as well as revolvers, kukris, and a rope launcher that lets Assassins Jacob and Evie Frye grapple up to rooftops or create ziplines above London's broad avenues.
Assassin's Creed Origins (2017)
The story of Bayek, a medjay whose quest for revenge leads him to co-found the Assassins (as the Hidden Ones) in Ancient Egypt, Origins reimagines almost everything about the series, from giving players a scouting eagle friend and the ability to climb any surface to creating a more open-ended combat system that lets players wield bows, shields, and a wide variety of melee weapons. Origins also introduced a new modern-day protagonist, former Abstergo researcher Layla Hassan, who anchored the narrative through the next two games.
Assassin's Creed Odyssey (2018)
A massive epic that spans Ancient Greece, Assassin's Creed Odyssey lets players pick between Spartan mercenary siblings Alexios and Kassandra, and puts them in command of their own soldier-filled ship. Odyssey also lets players unlock seemingly mystical First Civilization abilities - like teleporting to their thrown spear or surviving any fall unhurt - and tussle with monsters straight out of ancient myth.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla (2020)
Recreating the ninth-century Viking occupation of England, Valhalla casts players as Norse chieftain Eivor, who fights to forge allegiances across the country while establishing a new home for their clan. Introducing a revamped, two-handed combat system, Valhalla lets players roam England's countryside, launch raids against riverside villages, and fight in full-scale sieges against fortresses.
Assassin's Creed Mirage (2023)
Bringing the saga full-circle, Mirage focuses on the origins of Basim, the Master Assassin from Valhalla. Emphasizing stealth over combat, Mirage gives players an arsenal of gadgets and techniques that let them confuse and hide from ninth-century Baghdad's guards, while also bringing back the investigation structure from the first game.
All of these games are on sale until May 21 from the Ubisoft Store, and are included in a Ubisoft+ Premium subscription. For a deeper dive into the chronology of Assassin's Creed games, check out Assassin's Creed Mirage - The Evolution of the Brotherhood, and tune in to Ubisoft Forward on June 10 for more information on Assassin's Creed Codename RED.
