Since the launch of the 1st Assassin’s Creed way back in 2007; a total of 13 games (not counting expansions, spin-offs and mobile counterparts) have spanned a variety of world settings and time periods. We have put together all the games in chronological order – starting from the very first set in Ancient Greece around 4th century BC, to the most modern setting (for an Assassin’s Creed game) of Victorian England in the late 1800s.
List of All Assassin’s Creed Games With Timelines
| No | Game | Release Year | Timeline | Setting | Protagonist |
| 1 | Assassin’s Creed Odyssey | 2018 | 431 BC | Ancient Greece | Cassandra / Alexios |
| 2 | Assassin’s Creed Origins | 2017 | 49 BC | Ancient Egypt | Bayek |
| 3 | Assassin’s Creed Mirage | 2023 | 861 AD | Baghdad | Basim Ibn Ishaq |
| 4 | Assassin’s Creed Valhalla | 2020 | 872 | England / Norway | Eivor |
| 5 | Assassin’s Creed | 2007 | 1191 | The Holy Land | Altair Ibn’La-Ahad |
| 6 | Assassin’s Creed II | 2009 | 1476 | Italy | Ezio Auditore da Firenze |
| 7 | Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood | 2010 | 1499 | Italy | Ezio Auditore da Firenze |
| 8 | Assassin’s Creed Revelations | 2011 | 1511 | Constantinople | Ezio Auditore da Firenze |
| 9 | Assassin’s Creed Black Flag | 2013 | 1715 | Caribbean Islands | Edward Kenway |
| 10 | Assassin’s Creed Rogue | 2014 | 1752 | America | Shay Patrick Cormac |
| 11 | Assassin’s Creed III | 2012 | 1754 | America | Ratonhnhaké “Connor” Kenway |
| 12 | Assassin’s Creed Unity | 2014 | 1776 | Paris | Arno Dorian |
| 13 | Assassin’s Creed Syndicate | 2015 | 1868 | London | Jacob / Evie Frye |
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey covers the entire Ancient Greece map right down to the archipelagos and small islands surrounding the mainland as well. The setting is at the time of the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta; and the story of the protagonist is weaved into this narrative. It also features all the well-known Greek scholars and philosophers like Socrates, Hippocrates, Aristophanes, Pythagoras and has side quest threads to complete for each of them. The DLCs further expanded the story line and had the Isu (a pre-cursor to the human race and frequently referenced in Assassin’s Creed lore) appear more prominently there; and refers to mythological Staff of Hermes, and the Lost City Of Atlantis as well.
Assassin’s Creed Origins
Set in Ancient Egypt, the first of the true RPG trilogy (Odyssey / Origins / Valhalla); the series rebooted its gameplay mechanics big time, at the same time introducing a sprawling map for players to explore. The re-creation of Ancient Egypt was in particular one of the highlights of the game. It introduced us to Bayek of Siwa – the first Assassin who created the Hidden Ones along with his wife Aya. Like in Odyssey; it includes historical figures like Caesar and Cleopatra into the story plot.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage
Originally planned to be a DLC, the story of Basim evolved to the extent where Ubisoft decided to come up with a standalone game for this one. A dive back to its roots in terms of gameplay mechanics with it’s emphasis on stealth, parkour and assassinations; the game is set in Baghdad during the 9th century. We were of course introduced to this character in Valhalla when accompanying Sigurd back to Norway and then England. The story sees his evolution from being a 17 year old pickpocket into this character as he battles the expanding influence that the Order of the Ancients has started wielding in Baghdad.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
Valhalla turned out to be one of the most expansive maps, and one which easily had the highest game length, with just the main story campaign running up to 60+ hours. The setting of England during the late 8th century as different Anglo-Saxon kingdoms battled each other as well as the Norse, the Danes is replicated faithfully; and the game even has journeys to the mythical lands of Asgard. The story also had artefacts and plot points for Isu that added and built upon the overall Assassin’s Creed lore. The game was the biggest and most successful one in the Assassin’s Creed franchise for Ubisoft, although there were criticisms levelled on account of repetitive gameplay, segmented stories, an uninteresting gameplay loop and shallow combat. However; the game received praise for the gore and violent Viking – like combat as well; and also for taking the Assassin’s Creed overarching story ahead in a very interesting manner.
Assassin’s Creed
The one that started it all, set in the Holy Land during the end of the 11th century and in the middle of The Third Crusade; we are introduced to Altair Ibn’La-Ahad who is tasked with hunting down Templars. The game also set up the foundations of what would become Assassin’s Creed lore – Pieces of Eden, Animus and Assassins vs Templars. The gameplay mechanics of stealth, parkour and assassinations was also introduced in this game which eventually got refined in further iterations.
Assassin’s Creed II
The next game in the series; also matching the order of release after the previous game, takes us ~200 years further ahead to Renaissance-era Italy and specifically Florence among other cities, and we are introduced to what would be the protagonist for the next few games – Ezio Auditore da Firenze. Taking the benefit of a new engine; this game upped all the elements that were introduced in the first game; and the result was that it was received by users and critics alike with almost universal acclaim. The game also vastly extended the lore by introducing Minerva – one of the goddesses / part of the earlier civilization Isu that had left ‘Vaults’ and ‘Pieces of Eden’ at different parts of the Earth.
Assassin’s Creed : Brotherhood
The second of what came to be known as ‘The Ezio Trilogy’ continues the story of the protagonist Ezio Auditore da Firenze that was introduced in the previous game, and the plot also kicks off from the previous games’ ending. The setting is Rome, as Ezio fights against the Templars who have taken control of the city. Several known historical personalities like Leonardo da Vinci, Niccolo Machiavelli and the Borgia family get entangled into the plot. The game introduced several new combat mechanics and increased the tools available with Ezio to take down enemies, like darts, crossbows and even guns; and was the first game to have a multiplayer component as well.
Assassin’s Creed : Revelations
The concluding game of The Ezio Trilogy takes place in Constantinople during the 1500s and covers the period of the rise of the Ottoman Empire. The plot links back to the 1st Assassin’s Creed game by having the main mission of the now aged Ezio to discover keys to unlock a library built by Altair Ibn’La-Ahad. The game took the plot forward and introduced Jupiter, another member of the First Civilization
Assassin’s Creed IV : Black Flag
Routinely pointed out as the most fun, and the best games in the AC franchise; the game introduced us to Edward Kenway and the setting of pirates in the Caribbean Islands during the 1800s; ~200 years after the events of Revelations. What makes the game unique is that the protagonist is no Assassin…in fact he just happens to take the coat of an Assassin who dies, and gets caught up in the Assassin vs Templars story line. Introduction of naval combat so good that the game was good enough to be ranked among the best on strength of this alone – but a certain light-hearted tone, fantastic gameplay, and the lively setting all further added to the positive reviews and reception for this game.
Assassin’s Creed : Rogue
The game prominently features Haytham Kenway, who is the son of protagonist Edward Kenway (of Black Flag); and eventually becomes the father of the protagonist of Assassin’s Creed III, the next chronological game in the series. The setting is 18th century America; and includes similar gameplay elements like naval combat that had become so successful and received so well in Black Flag. The twist in the tale here was that the protagonist, Shay Cormac is a disillusioned-Assassin-turned Templar and the majority of the game is spent in preventing assassinations and the Assassins from creating further chaos. The game received mixed reviews – the negative being overly familiar gameplay to Black Flag; while the Templar perspective, the story were the positives for this iteration in the AC universe.
Assassin’s Creed III
This game came out before Rogue and Black Flag; and the first few hours along with the twist in the end are still considered among the finest story telling in the AC Universe. We are introduced in these hours to Haytham Kenway who appears capable, restrained, always-in-control and considerate, all the markings of a protagonist, till the game reveals that he is a Templar! The real protagonist then takes over – his son, and the story begins in earnest covering the American frontier at the time of the Revolution. The story also includes real life historical figures like George Washington, Charles Lee and Benjamin Franklin. The Grand Temple, referenced in the earlier games also gets mentioned here and the main plot revolves the protagonist trying to save the Templars from accessing it’s location. The story also concluded Desmond Miles – the contemporary protagonists’ arc and significantly moved the overall lore around First Civilization and their interactions with humans in the current timeline ahead.
Assassin’s Creed : Unity
The action moved then to Paris, France during the time of the French Revolution, and had a very unpopular launch on account of a lot of game-breaking bugs. However, over a period of time ,the bugs were resolved and helped bring the positives of the game like a faithful re-creation of Paris, very good stealth based gameplay to the fore. The game also introduced a skill tree for its protagonist Arno Dorian – a first in any of the AC games; and continued upon its tradition of bringing historical figures into the plot like Napoleon Bonaparte, Marquis de Sade, King Louis XVI and Maximilien Robespierre.
Assassin’s Creed : Syndicate
And this brings us to the last game chronologically – Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, around a 100 years after Unity and set in Victorian England well on it’s way towards the Industrial Revolution. The game had many firsts – including two protagonists; the Frye twins. In particular, the graphics, visual design and the world-building for London were pointed out as highlights. The game, however, did not meet the kind of initial success previous entries had, and was a contributing factor in Ubisoft moving away from annual release calendar and also moving the series down the full scale RPG path.
With that we conclude the list of all Assassin’s Creed games in chronological order. Do you plan to re-play any of these games? Do let us know in the comments below! Alternately, you can read about the best Assassin’s Creed games ranked or get all the details about the latest entrant in this universe – AC Mirage
