Key Takeaways
- GTA set the standard for open-world sandbox games with its vast freedom and erratic releases.
- Each GTA game has its own protagonist and crime-filled adventure, loosely tied together in a common universe.
- Play the GTA games in chronological order and experience the evolution from 2D to 3D gameplay in different settings.
When it comes to open-world sandbox games, nothing comes close to the scale, scope, and pure chaotic fun of Grand Theft Auto. Few other games in the world even attempt to offer this much freedom, let alone do it in a way as polished as Rockstar. The game singlehandedly started a boom in open-world games, and copycat games are still trying to sell a fraction of what GTA had. Unlike other blockbuster series like Call of Duty, GTA releases happen every few years, which makes it all the more special.
Each GTA game so far has featured a new protagonist (or protagonists) embroiled in a crime-filled adventure set in a parody of our world. While there isn’t one overarching plot like Metroid, these games are all set in the same world, with some crossovers tying things together. If you want to live out your wildest crime fantasies in the safety of the digital world, here’s how to play all the GTA games in order, chronological order, and release order.
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1 Grand Theft Auto: London 1961
1961
Dating back to when GTA was a 2D top-down game, GTA: London 1961 is an expansion to the first game in the series. Not many people got to experience it as it was a PC-only addition that PlayStation players couldn’t access. Not much is told about this short story other than that you complete various jobs to rise through the ranks of London’s gangsters.
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2 Grand Theft Auto: London 1968
1968
Don’t think this timeline is as simple as just reading the year at the end of the title, it’s a further expansion of the first GTA and has some slight ties to the 1961 characters but other than that it has absolutely no connection to the main series.
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3 Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
1984
Originally a PSP game and later ported to the PS2, Vice City Stories is a prequel to Vice City featuring a new protagonist named Victor Vance. He and his brother Lance are trying to start their own criminal enterprise after being dishonorably discharged from the military. Many supporting characters from Vice City make appearances and the game ends where Vice City began.
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Four Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
1986
The mid-80s Vice City setting and atmosphere make this the best GTA game of all time for many. Set in the titular Vice City, you play as Tony Vercetti, fresh out of prison, who is tasked by his boss in Liberty City with establishing a drug trade, but as always, things go awry quickly and he must navigate the underworld and take on the current gang boss in order to survive.
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5 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
1992
Taking a different approach to crime series, San Andreas focuses on street-level gang warfare. Players take control of CJ, a young man who has just returned to town after his mother was killed by a rival gang. Joining a local gang, he vows to get revenge on those who killed his mother, but eventually finds himself embroiled in a much larger conspiracy.
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6 grand theft auto
1997
The first GTA game was set in three cities that would become staples of the series: Liberty City, San Andreas and Vice City. Players took on the role of a little-known criminal, completing a variety of heists, jobs and assassinations for various gang leaders.
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7 Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
1998
Another PSP prequel game, but thankfully also ported to the PS2, Liberty City Stories features another protagonist with an Italianate sounding name, Toni Cipriani, a supporting character from GTA 3. Here, he’s just returned to a life of crime with the Leone family after murdering a powerful man.
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8 Grand Theft Auto: Advance
2000
GTA Advance is as loosely tied to the series as you can get, with a guy named Mike returning to Liberty City to seek revenge for the murder of his buddy Vinny, and while it’s very basic, like the original 2D games, it’s great to have a portable GTA.
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9 Grand Theft Auto 3
2001
GTA 3 is where the series really began for most people. It was the first 3D entry in the series and gave us a fully realized Liberty City to explore as Claude. We start off as a robber finishing a 10 year sentence to start a new life with the Mafia.
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Ten Grand Theft Auto 4
2008
GTA 4 was the biggest hit in the world when it was released. After three great games in the PS2 generation, GTA 4 harnessed the power of the PS3 and 360 hardware to shatter all expectations in gameplay and storytelling. Even today, exploring Liberty City is an incredible achievement and well worth experiencing if you can.
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11 Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
2009
Unlike previous portable titles, Chinatown Wars is exclusive to PSP, DS and mobile platforms. We take on the unique perspective of Triad member Huang Lee as he embarks on an adventure to retrieve an ancestral sword that must be delivered.
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12 Grand Theft Auto 2
1999/2013?
GTA 2 is the odd one out in the whole series. It’s a 2D game, and plays pretty much the same as the first, but it’s set in a new location in the far future of 2013, Anywhere City. This is the first time the main character is given a name, and Claude Speed (no, that’s the other Claude from GTA 3) follows the same formula of taking jobs to improve his reputation with crime bosses. The year is unclear, which is why I’m putting it here in the timeline; it references both 1999 and 2013, but considering how futuristic everything is, I’m playing it safe and going as far back as possible in the date.
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13 Grand Theft Auto 5
2013
The latest game in the timeline right now is the blockbuster GTA 5. We finally leave Liberty City behind and head to Los Santos, where the story unfolds from three different perspectives: Franklin, Michael and Trevor all have very different personalities, but a common goal brings this unlikely bunch together.
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14 Grand Theft Auto release order
It’s not a straight path
Because there are many spin-offs and subtitles between the numbered titles, it’s not possible to tell the correct GTA release order by looking at the names alone, but here’s a quick list of the release order:
- Grand Theft Auto (and its expansions)
- Grand Theft Auto 2
- Grand Theft Auto 3
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
- Grand Theft Auto: Advance
- Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
- Grand Theft Auto 4
- Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
- Grand Theft Auto 5
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