How to Play the Halo Games in Chronological Order

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Xbox’s flagship shooter is an intergalactic sci-fi saga with narrative foundations that date back billions of years. Despite that far-reaching history, the actual Halo games largely take place within a single decade during the tail end and aftermath of the Human-Covenant War.

The mainline Halo games present a sequential storyline, though several spinoffs complicate the series’ chronology. With that in mind, we’ve created this brief rundown of the Halo timeline as explored in video games.

This list includes all mainline Halo games and most spinoffs, including the Halo Wars strategy games and Halo: Spartan top-down shooters. The mixed-reality game Halo Recruit, the arcade game Halo: Fireteam Raven, and the marketing ploy/mobile game Halo 4: King of the Hill Fueled By Mountain Dew are not included.

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As with most series, there are two possible ways to approach the Halo games: chronologically by release date or chronologically by narrative. The choice is yours, and both possible paths are outlined below, beginning with the narrative chronology.

With series newcomers in mind, these brief plot synopses contain only mild spoilers such as broad plot points, settings, and character introductions.

Halo Wars is the series’ earliest-set game, taking place 21 years before the start of Halo: Reach and Halo: Combat Evolved. Halo Wars is set during the early days of the Human-Covenant War, a conflict started by the alien Covenant to preserve the false foundations on which it built its religion. Halo Wars follows the United Nations Space Command (UNSC) forces aboard the Spirit of Fire and the Red Team of Spartan-II supersoldiers as they take the fight to the Covenant across the planets Harvest and Arcadia, as well as the Forerunner