Every Fallout game in Chronological Order

There’s no arguing against it, the Fallout universe is huge. With a canonical timeline spanning over 1,000 years, there’s a lot of history packed into relatively few games. Thankfully, the games don’t span the entire timeline, instead spanning a 195 year period between 2102 and 2287. 

Fallout 76

Despite being the latest game to be released, Fallout 76 is actually set right at the very beginning of the timeline in terms of the Fallout games. Set just 25 years after the events of the Great War, the residents of Vault 76 are among the first people to resurface into the Wastes, leaving the safety of the Vault for Reclamation Day.  

Fallout 

The first released Fallout game was, until Fallout 76 hit the scene, also the earliest part of the timeline seen in game form. Set 59 years after the events of Fallout 76, Fallout sees the main character set out in search of a water chip before time runs out, and everyone in Vault 13 perishes. The main character goes through untold hardship, only to end up exiled for their troubles. 

Fallout Tactics

Despite being released three years after Fallout 2, the events of Fallout Tactics occur 36 years after the events of Fallout and 44 years before the events of Fallout 2. Gameplay is very different from both games, with the focus being more on tactical combat, as the name suggests.

Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel

Released three years after Fallout Tactics, the events of Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel take place just 9 years later, although Todd Howard would confirm that neither Tactics nor Brotherhood were considered part of the canon when making Fallout 3, saying, “For our purposes, neither Fallout Tactics nor Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel happened.”

Fallout 2

Prior to the release of Tactics and Brotherhood of Steel, Fallout 2 would indeed have been a direct sequel to the original Fallout. The story of Fallout 2 sees you playing as a direct descendant of the exiled main character from Vault 13, who must leave the safety of Arroya in search of a G.E.C.K. 

Fallout 3 

The first Fallout game developed by Bethesda, Fallout 3 sees events occurring 36 years after the events of Fallout 2. This is likely the Fallout game which most people have the most vivid memories of; where you begin the game as a child in Vault 101, aging up and taking the G.O.A.T. before leaving the Vault in search of your father. 

Fallout: New Vegas

With events set just four years after those of Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas sees you playing as a courier who, after being shot in the head, goes on a fairly violent quest across the state of Nevada to find who did this, why, and what happened to their final delivery.

Fallout Shelter

Fallout Shelter takes place immediately before the events of Fallout 4, though the exact year has never been confirmed. As a mobile game, Fallout Shelter is markedly different from all of the other games mentioned here, with gameplay focusing more on Vault management than combat or exploration. 

Fallout 4

Fallout 4 was the furthest into the future of the Fallout universe that we actually saw until the addition of the new Fallout TV show. Events in Fallout 4 take place only one year after the events of Fallout Shelter, 195 years after the events of the original Fallout game and 210 years after the Great War. Where Fallout 3 saw you head out in search of your father, Fallout 4 sees you head out in search for your son after he was stolen during your stint in Vault 88, held under cryogenic stasis.