With Fallout Season 2 underway, a lot of players are feeling the urge to return to the Wasteland. Whether you’re replaying old favorites or jumping into the series for the very first time, one of the most common questions is: what order should you play the Fallout games in?
If you’re looking to experience the franchise’s timeline from beginning to end, here’s a complete guide to how to play the Fallout games in chronological order.
What Fallout game is first Chronologically?
The first game in the Fallout timeline is Fallout 76.
Set in the year 2102, just 25 years after the Great War, Fallout 76 takes place earlier than any other mainline entry in the series. While it’s the most recent release and continues to receive regular updates, it’s technically the starting point of the Fallout universe.
Rather than focusing on a single Vault’s survival, Fallout 76 shows the earliest attempts at rebuilding civilization, with settlers returning to Appalachia and forming new communities. If you want to see the Wasteland in its earliest, least-settled state, this is where your Fallout journey begins.
Fallout
Next up is the original Fallout, set in 2161, roughly 59 years after Fallout 76.
This classic, top-down RPG takes place in Southern California and follows a Vault Dweller from Vault 13. Your initial goal is simple: find a replacement water chip to save your vault. However, the story quickly expands as you uncover a larger threat involving Super Mutants and a sinister plan that could doom humanity.
Compared to modern Fallout games, the original Fallout is far more focused and story-driven, making it an essential chapter in understanding the foundations of the series.
Fallout 2
Fallout 2 is set 80 years after the first game, in the year 2241, and continues the West Coast storyline.
This time, you play as the “Chosen One,” the grandchild of the original Vault Dweller. Instead of saving a vault, your mission is to help the struggling village of Arroyo by locating a G.E.C.K. (Garden of Eden Creation Kit) to prevent its collapse.
Fallout 2 expands massively on the original game’s systems, tone, and world-building, blending dark humor with serious themes while further cementing the franchise’s identity.
Fallout 3
After the first two games, the Fallout series shifts into largely standalone stories. Fallout 3 takes place in 2277, over 200 years after the Great War.
Set in Washington D.C.—now known as the Capital Wasteland—you play as the Lone Wanderer, a Vault 101 resident searching for your missing father. Fallout 3 was the franchise’s first fully open-world, first-person RPG, and for many players, it was their introduction to Fallout.
The game explores major themes like survival, moral choice, and rebuilding civilization, while also introducing iconic factions such as the Brotherhood of Steel and the Enclave. This is where Fallout truly became a “choose your own adventure” experience.
Fallout: New Vegas
Set just four years after Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas takes place in 2281 in the Mojave Desert.
New Vegas centers around political power struggles between three major factions: the New California Republic, Caesar’s Legion, and Mr. House. Unlike Fallout 3’s clearer moral lines, New Vegas thrives in moral gray areas, offering deep role-playing choices and branching story paths.
While the desert setting can feel sparse at times, the city of New Vegas itself is packed with memorable characters, quests, and consequences that make this entry stand out.
What Fallout game takes place last chronologically?
The most recent game in the Fallout timeline is Fallout 4, set in 2287, six years after Fallout: New Vegas.
In Fallout 4, you play as the Sole Survivor of Vault 111, searching for your missing child in the ruins of Boston. The story revolves heavily around the Institute and its creation of synths—biological yet robotic beings that raise serious ethical and philosophical questions.
While Fallout 4 can be divisive, its exploration of identity, artificial life, and scientific overreach makes it a compelling endpoint (for now) in the series’ chronology.
When does the Fallout Series take place chronologically?
The Fallout series takes place in 2296, after the events of Fallout 4.
Like the games, the show is designed to be accessible even if you haven’t played every entry. There are currently few direct connections between the show and the games, but that could change as future seasons expand the shared universe.
Whether you start with the games or the show, Fallout is built as a collection of interconnected yet standalone stories—so there’s no wrong place to jump in.
For more Fallout content, check out some of our Fallout series articles answering questions you may have.
