Every Elder Scrolls Game In Order (And Which One To Play First)

You don't need to play these in order to enjoy them. Each game (aside from Online) is a self-contained story in a different era and province, so jumping straight to whichever one sounds most interesting works fine. That said, here's how we'd point people depending on what they're after.

New to Elder Scrolls entirely

Start with Skyrim. It's the most accessible, the most supported across modern hardware, and still the game most people mean when they say "Elder Scrolls." Oblivion is a close second if you want something a little older and stranger.

You want the deepest, weirdest lore experience

Go straight to Morrowind. It asks more of you than the later games do, and it pays that back with a setting nothing else in the series has matched since.

You want to play with friends

The Elder Scrolls Online is the only multiplayer entry, and it's grown into a genuinely huge game covering most of the continent across a thousand years of story before Skyrim.

You're a completionist who wants the full history

Play in release order starting with Arena. It's the hardest recommendation on this list since the early games have aged the most, but it's genuinely interesting to see where the series started.

Want the full breakdown of how these stack up against each other? Read our ranking of all 8 Elder Scrolls games, or go further back with the full history of Bethesda Game Studios.