Assassin’s Creed is an iconic video game franchise that combines open-world exploration, action, adventure, and stealth elements. The series is published by Ubisoft and primarily developed by its studio Ubisoft Montreal. Assassin’s Creed explores the fictional age-old struggle between the Order of Assassins and the Knights Templar. The former fight for peace and free will, while the latter tries to achieve peace through order and control. The series combines historical figures and locations with science fiction and technological gadgetry. In most games, players assume the role of a historical assassin while simultaneously playing as someone engaging in the same conflict in the present day.
The series features extensive open worlds and is presented from a third-person perspective. The games center around combat, stealth, and exploration, with parkour playing a crucial role in navigating the environment. Players can embark on main and side missions, and some titles even offer competitive and cooperative multiplayer modes. The series has introduced new stories and periods with each entry, evolving its gameplay elements. The timeline of the series spans from Ancient Greece to the 20th century.
Additionally, in the simultaneous modern-day timeline of Assassin’s Creed, players follow characters like Desmond Miles, Abstergo employees, and a former Abstergo employee, Layla Hassan. They use machines like the Animus and the Helix software to relive their ancestors’ memories, uncover powerful artifacts known as Pieces of Eden, and try to stop global disasters. The game series has become one of the most celebrated, and popular, franchises in the gaming world. In addition to the main games, the franchise has spawned numerous spin-off games, art books, comics, and even a movie.
Main Series
The first Assassin’s Creed game was released in 2007, and as of 2020, the series has expanded to include twelve main games. The main series features a coherent structure, although it travels through years and players step in the shoes of various protagonists.
Assassin’s Creed
Assassin’s Creed is set in the 12th-century Holy Land, where players control Altaïr Ibn-La’Ahad, an assassin during the Third Crusade. Players access these memories through the modern-day character Desmond Miles, who is forced to use a technology called the Animus to locate powerful artifacts known as Pieces of Eden. The story includes real historical figures from the time and places like Jerusalem, Acre, and Damascus.
Assassin’s Creed II
Assassin’s Creed II is set in Renaissance Italy, primarily in cities such as Florence and Venice. The game follows Ezio Auditore da Firenze, a young noble who becomes an assassin after the Templars wrongly execute his father and brothers. As Ezio, players embark on a quest for revenge against the Pazzi and Barbarigo families and Templar Grandmaster Rodrigo Borgia. He is aided by allies like Leonardo da Vinci and Caterina Sforza. Players also continue the modern-day narrative of Desmond Miles, who trains as an assassin by using Animus 2.0.
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood
Picking up immediately after the events of Assassin’s Creed II, Brotherhood follows Ezio Auditore as he travels to Rome to establish an Assassin Brotherhood and combat the powerful Borgia family, who have stolen the Apple of Eden. Set mostly in Rome, players can recruit and train new assassins, engage in Borgia tower takeover missions, and invest in the city’s economy. The game introduces multiplayer mode, where players assume the role of Abstergo employees reliving Templar memories through the Animus. In the modern-day, Desmond searches for the Temple of Juno, hoping to prevent an impending solar flare.
Assassin’s Creed: Revelations
Assassin’s Creed: Revelations is the final chapter of the Ezio trilogy. It is set in Constantinople during a war of succession between Sultan Bayezid II’s sons. Players control an older Ezio as he searches for five keys to open Altaïr’s library, which holds the secret to ending the Assassin-Templar conflict. In the modern-day, Desmond is in a coma and is fighting to wake up by trying to synchronize memories of his ancestors.
Assassin’s Creed III
Assassin’s Creed III takes place in colonial America during the American Revolution. Players control Ratonhnhaké:ton, a half-Mohawk, half-British assassin known as Connor. Connor is seeking revenge against the Templars responsible for his village’s destruction. The game features open-world exploration in cities like Boston and New York. In addition, players get to experience the Frontier with beautiful landscapes. Players can also engage in naval battles with the ship Aquila. In the modern-day, Desmond and his team race to retrieve artifacts that can prevent a devastating solar flare.
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag
As the name suggests, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag explores the golden age of piracy in the Caribbean. Players control Edward Kenway, a privateer turned pirate and Connor’s grandfather, as he navigates the dangerous seas and uncovers a iTemplar conspiracy. This conspiracy involves a mysterious structure called the Observatory. Players can captain Edward’s ship, the Jackdaw while engaging in naval combat and exploring locations like Havana, Nassau, and Kingston. In the present day, an Abstergo employee goes through Edward’s memories to locate the Observatory.
Assassin’s Creed Rogue
This game is set during the Seven Years’ War in the 18th century and follows Shay Patrick Cormac, a former assassin who joins the Templar Order after witnessing the Assassins’ hypocrisy and willingness to harm civilians. In the present day, players take the role of an employee of Abstergo researching Shay’s memories. Players help the Templars hunt down members of his former Brotherhood.
Assassin’s Creed Unity
Set in Paris during the French Revolution, players take on the role of Arno Dorian, an assassin seeking to avenge his foster father’s death by the Templars. The present-day storyline sees players controlling a gaming device called Helix and produced by Abstergo. Abstergo hopes to use it to locate Pieces of Eden. The player is contacted by modern-day assassins and joins them to locate an 18th-century Sage. Unity features some new gameplay mechanics, including a four-player co-op mode.
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
This Assassin’s Creed game is set in Victorian-era London. Players control twin assassins, Jacob and Evie Frye, navigating the world of organized crime to take back the city from Templar control. The present-day storyline follows the same character from the previous game, who is helping the Assassins locate the powerful Shroud of Eden. The game also includes parts set in World War I, where the player controls Jacob’s granddaughter, Lydia Frye, battling German soldiers and Templar spies while searching for a Sage.
Assassin’s Creed Origins
Origins is a soft reboot of the series. The game is set in Ancient Egypt during the Ptolemaic period and follows Bayek and his wife Aya as they fight against the Order of the Ancients, eventually forming the Hidden Ones. These are the predecessors of Templars and Assassins, respectively. In the modern-day timeline, players control a new character, Layla Hassan. Origins introduced a new, hitbox-based combat system.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
Continuing the narrative from Origins, in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey players control either Alexios or Kassandra during the Peloponnesian War in Ancient Greece. Layla Hassan, who is now an assassin, searches for Atlantis and the powerful Staff of Hermes Trismegistus in the modern-day storyline. Odyssey places greater emphasis on role-playing elements than previous entries in the series.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
Set in the late 9th century during the Viking invasions of England, players control a Viking raider named Eivor Varinsdottir. She becomes involved in the Hidden Ones and Order of the Ancients conflict while building a Viking clan in England. In the present-day storyline, players continue Layla Hassan’s journey as she seeks to restore the Earth’s magnetic field by finding a First Civilization temple in Norway.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage
At the time of writing, Assassin’s Creed Mirage is an upcoming game that is set before the events of the previous title, Valhalla. In Mirage, players will control a street thief by the name of Basim Ibn Ishaq who is aiming to become part of the Hidden Ones.
Spin-offs:
Assassin’s Creed: Altaïr’s Chronicles (2008)
A prequel to the first Assassin’s Creed, this game is set in 1190. The game follows Altaïr as he attempts to retrieve an artifact known as the Chalice from the Templars. It explores Altaïr’s quest to prevent the Templars from controlling the Holy Land. Available for Nintendo DS and mobile platforms.
Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines (2009)
This is a PlayStation Portable exclusive game and a direct sequel to the original Assassin’s Creed. Taking place on the island of Cyprus, Altaïr joins forces with Maria Thorpe to eliminate the remaining Templars and uncover the secrets of the Apple of Eden and the Templar Archive.
Assassin’s Creed II: Discovery (2009)
A 2.5D side-scroller spin-off for Nintendo DS and iOS. This game takes place during the events of Assassin’s Creed II. Players control Ezio as he travels to Spain to rescue Spanish Assassins from the Inquisition. He joins forces with historical figures such as Luis de Santángel and Christopher Columbus.
Assassin’s Creed: Project Legacy (2010)
This Facebook-based game ties in with Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood. Players interact with characters from the main game, reliving the memories of various historical figures and unlocking exclusive content for the console game.
Assassin’s Creed: Multiplayer Rearmed (2011)
A multiplayer game for iOS devices, it allows players to assassinate targets while trying to avoid their own demise. Players can purchase additional items, characters, and abilities while competing with others online.
Assassin’s Creed: Recollection (2011)
A real-time board game for iOS devices, where players compete in political battles using characters from the main series across over 280 memories. The single-player campaign has over 20 missions and 10 bonus challenge missions.
Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation (2012)
Released for the PlayStation Vita, this spin-off game takes place before and during the events of Assassin’s Creed III. Aveline de Grandpré, a Creole woman from New Orleans, fights against slavery and the Templars in Louisiana.
Assassin’s Creed: Pirates (2013)
A mobile game for iOS and Android, where players take on the role of Captain Alonzo Batilla and command a ship while engaging in naval battles. Players can also interact with characters from the main series.
Assassin’s Creed: Freedom Cry (2014)
Originally a DLC for Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, it was later released as a standalone game. Set in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, where Adéwalé fights against brutal slavery practices.
Assassin’s Creed: Memories (2014)
A mobile card collection and battling game for iOS, where players can engage in target chasing, strategy, and competitive multiplayer. It features various historical eras, including the Third Crusade, the Golden Age of Piracy, feudal Japan, and the Mongolian Empire.
Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China (2015)
The first of the Chronicles sub-series, this 2.5D side-scroller follows Shao Jun in 16th-century China as she battles the Templar group Eight Tigers and seeks to rebuild the Chinese Assassin Brotherhood.
Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India (2016)
The second Chronicles game, set in British-colonized India in 1841, follows Arbaaz Mir as he tries to recover a Precursor artifact from the Templars while protecting his friends and lover during political turmoil.
Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: Russia (2016)
The final Chronicles game, set in Soviet Russia in 1918, follows Nikolai Orelov as he attempts to protect a Precursor artifact and Grand Duchess Anastasia from the Templars and the Bolsheviks.
Assassin’s Creed Identity (2016)
A third-person role-playing mobile game for iOS and Android, taking place during the events of Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood. Players create a custom Assassin, complete missions in Italy, and interact with characters from the main games.
Assassin’s Creed Unity: Arno’s Chronicles (2017)
A side-scrolling mobile game, with a Huawei Honor smartphone exclusivity period. It adapts the events of Assassin’s Creed Unity‘s main storyline in a similar gameplay style to the Assassin’s Creed Chronicles games.
Assassin’s Creed Rebellion (2018)
A free-to-play, strategy role-playing mobile game for iOS and Android, set during the Spanish Inquisition. Players follow the Spanish Assassins under Aguilar de Nerha as they attempt to overthrow the Spanish Templars.
Chronological Order
The Assassin’s Creed‘s main series started releasing games in chronological order all the way through to Assassin’s Creed III. Each game progressed in a timeline towards the current day, including Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood and Assassin’s Creed: Revelations. However, if you add in the spin-offs, the series was never really in chronological order.
For those that know the premise of the game series, this makes more sense, though. Much of the background involves a technological artifact called Animus, which delivers time travel-like experiences, vivid and controllable memories, and various characters from different eras. This also means, that while playing the series in a strict chronological order is possible, it is not necessary, or perhaps even suggested if the spin-offs are included.
The main series, which you can browse through earlier in the article, adheres to the core storyline more and offers a more coherent chronological timeline. If you’d like to follow the main series, simply disregard the titles not in bold. Also, players can simply play specific assassins, like the Ezio trilogy with Assassin’s Creed II, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, and Assassin’s Creed: Revelations.
Note that gameplay and graphics may vary greatly if played in chronological order, as platforms also change. This definitely is the case when transitioning from Assassin’s Creed Mirage (2023) and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (2020) to Assassin’s Creed (2007).
- Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (431 BC)
- Assassin’s Creed Origins (49 BC)
- Assassin’s Creed Mirage (861)
- Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (872)
- Assassin’s Creed: Altaïr’s Chronicles (1190)
- Assassin’s Creed (1191)
- Assassin’s Creed Bloodlines (1191)
- Assassin’s Creed II (1476)
- Assassin’s Creed II: Discovery (1491)
- Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood (1499)
- Assassin’s Creed Identity (1501)
- Assassin’s Creed Revelations (1511-1512)
- Assassin’s Creed Rebellion (1517)
- Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China (1526)
- Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (1715)
- Assassin’s Creed Pirates (1716)
- Assassin’s Creed Freedom Cry (1735)
- Assassin’s Creed Rogue (1752)
- Assassin’s Creed III (1754)
- Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation (1765)
- Assassin’s Creed Unity (1776)
- Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India (1841)
- Assassin’s Creed Syndicate (1868)
- Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: Russia (1918)