What order should players play the GTA games in?

Some players often ask questions about what order they should play the GTA games in, but that depends on a few criteria. Here are some questions to ponder:

• Which games is the player willing to play?
• Does the player care about the canon year the game takes place?
• Does the player care about the game's release year?

The answers to those questions will affect the order. This article will address the modern games that the younger generation would care about and the series at large for those interested in its history.

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Playing the GTA games in order

The GTA series is home to many memorable characters and stories (Image via Rockstar Games)

These titles are the main GTA games that players would likely try out, ranked based on recency:

1. Grand Theft Auto Online
2. Grand Theft Auto 5
3. Grand Theft Auto 4 and its DLC episodes
4. Grand Theft Auto San Andreas
5. Grand Theft Auto Vice City
6. Grand Theft Auto 3

It should be noted that the Grand Theft Auto Trilogy is a divisive game and nowhere near as polished as something like Grand Theft Auto Online. Hence, it's not listed in this small ranking. Either way, these are all of the mainline games from the 3D Universe onward.

Typically, the lower the title is on this list, the more outdated it would be for younger gamers who are used to modern games.

By comparison, this is the order of the entire GTA series based on their release year, from oldest to newest:

1. Grand Theft Auto
2. Grand Theft Auto: London 1969
3. Grand Theft Auto: London 1961
4. Grand Theft Auto 2
5. Grand Theft Auto 3
6. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
7. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
8. Grand Theft Auto Advance
9. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
10. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
11. Grand Theft Auto 4
12. Grand Theft Auto 4: The Lost and Damned
13. Grand Theft Auto 4: The Ballad of Gay Tony
14. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
15. Grand Theft Auto 5
16. Grand Theft Auto Online
17. Grand Theft Auto Trilogy

Playing the original Grand Theft Auto and moving on to something like Grand Theft Auto 5 is a night and day difference. Still, this is a good order for gamers fascinated with video game history and who wish to see how the GTA series has progressed throughout the years.

Alternatively, one can start at a specific game and then move downward if they don't want to bother with the oldest games in the series.

For those that care about in-game lore, this list is the order of the GTA series based on the canon in-game year, from oldest to newest:

1. Grand Theft Auto: London 1961
2. Grand Theft Auto: London 1969
3. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
4. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
5. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
6. Grand Theft Auto
7. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
8. Grand Theft Auto 2
9. Grand Theft Auto Advance
10. Grand Theft Auto 3
11. Grand Theft Auto 3
12. Grand Theft Auto: The Lost and Damned
13. Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony
14. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
15. Grand Theft Auto 5
16. Grand Theft Auto Online

The Grand Theft Auto Trilogy is full of three remastered games: Grand Theft Auto 3, Vice City, and San Andreas. It's also worth mentioning that Grand Theft Auto 2 takes place in 1999 or 2013, but there is conflicting information about which one it is.