How to Play the Halo Games in Order

The Halo franchise consists of a whopping 14 games and counting, which makes figuring out where to start pretty challenging. Here’s how to play the Halo games in order.

How to Play the Halo Games in Release Order

As you’d expect, playing the Halo games in release order is the most straightforward way to enjoy the series. That doesn’t mean there aren’t a few challenges to this approach, though.

Two of the franchise’s spin-offs, Halo Recruit and Halo: Fireteam Raven, will prove hard for some gamers to get their hands on. The former is a Windows Mixed Reality headset exclusive, whereas the latter is an arcade-only release. But since both games are still playable, we’ve included them below.

Related: Halo Season 2 Delivers a Stronger Second Campaign (Review)

What we haven’t included is 2011’s Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary and 2014’s Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Why? Because they’re just re-released (and, in some instances, remastered) versions of existing entries in the franchise. Admittedly, the versions of Halo 2 and Halo 3 included in The Master Chief Collection feature some new story content, but they’re otherwise the same as the “vanilla” editions.

So, bearing the above in mind, here’s how the Halo games’ release order breaks down:

1. Halo: Combat Evolved (2001)
2. Halo 2 (2004)
3. Halo 3 (2007)
4. Halo Wars (2009)
5. Halo 3: ODST (2009)
6. Halo: Reach (2010)
7. Halo 4 (2012)
8. Halo: Spartan Assault (2013)
9. Halo: Spartan Strike (2015)
10. Halo 5: Guardians (2015)
11. Halo Wars 2 (2017)
12. Halo Recruit (2017)
13. Halo: Fireteam Raven (2018)
14. Halo Infinite (2021)

How to Play the Halo Games in Chronological Order

As is tradition with most long-running franchises, Halo‘s in-universe timeline and real-life release schedule don’t line up. Some games take place earlier than their predecessors and vice versa. On the plus side, you have fewer installments to worry about, as Halo Recruit and Halo: Fireteam Raven are essentially non-canon.

Related: What Is The Fall of Reach in Halo Season 2, Explained

We’ve stripped both of these games out of the below Halo chronological playthrough order. As in the release order section, we’ve removed Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary and Halo: The Master Chief Collection, as well. So, here’s how Halo‘s chronological order shakes down:

1. Halo Wars (2009)
2. Halo: Reach (2010)
3. Halo: Combat Evolved (2001)
4. Halo 2 (2004)
5. Halo 3: ODST (2009)
6. Halo 3 (2007)
7. Halo: Spartan Assault (2013)
8. Halo 4 (2012)
9. Halo: Spartan Strike (2015)
10. Halo 5: Guardians (2015)
11. Halo Wars 2 (2017)
12. Halo Infinite (2021)

And that’s how you play the Halo games in order – now suit up and join the fight!

The Halo games are available for purchase through Microsoft.