How to Play the BioShock Games in Chronological Order

Players were enamored by the BioShock bid from the infinitesimal they escaped a crashed aircraft, entered a mysterious lighthouse, and embarked connected their undersea voyage to the crumbling metropolis of Rapture. Often referenced and paid tribute to, galore see Irrational Games’ immersive action-horror classical a masterpiece, and successful the years pursuing its debut, it blossomed into a long-running franchise.

But successful classical BioShock fashion, its sequels were the furthest happening from traditional. As expected for a bid that hinges connected otherworldly technological discoveries and reality-tearing experiments, BioShock's communicative often switches betwixt alternate universes, leaving its games retired of chronological order.

With quality of a Bioshock movie connected the way, you whitethorn beryllium wanting to effort our oregon revisit the bid that started it all. So, for those looking for a linear mode to play done BioShock’s afloat narrative, here’s a speedy runthrough of the BioShock bid successful chronological order.

Jump to:

• How to play successful chronological order
• How to play by merchandise date

How Many BioShock Games Are There?

In total, determination are four BioShock Games (three released connected location console and PC and 1 released exclusively connected PC via web browser) and 3 expansions.

This database won’t see remasters oregon ports, including the BioShock Collection, which bundled remasters of the afloat trilogy and its expansions. It besides won’t incorporate situation representation packs, specified arsenic Clash successful the Clouds oregon BioShock’s Challenge Rooms DLC, arsenic these are purely gameplay-focused and frankincense considered non-canon.

Which BioShock Game Should You Play First?

It's champion to statesman wherever the franchise did with the archetypal BioShock. The archetypal crippled laid the instauration for the franchise from a gameplay and communicative perspective, exploring large socio-political ideas wrong a confined, thoughtfully crafted space. It's indispensable to play done the archetypal to afloat recognize and admit the must-play BioShock Infinite, particularly its Burial astatine Sea DLC. And contempt debuting 17 years ago, BioShock is perfectly playable today, acknowledgment to a 2016 remaster and a stylized aesthetic that has aged considerably well.

Every BioShock Game successful Chronological Order

These blurbs incorporate mild spoilers for each game, including characters, settings, and communicative beats.

1. BioShock Infinite: Industrial Revolution

Launching arsenic a pre-order bonus for BioShock Infinite, BioShock Infinite: Industrial Revolution was a browser-based flash crippled that acted arsenic a prequel to Infinite’s story. Casting players arsenic a idiosyncratic completing cog-based puzzles, Industrial Revolution allowed pre-ordering customers to unlock peculiar items and upgrades that transferred to BioShock Infinite.

As players completed challenges, they learned much astir the conflicts moving done Infinite’s world, including the conflict betwixt the Vox Populi and the Founders. They could adjacent take which of the 2 groups to support, unlocking antithetic rewards arsenic a result.

Note: The crippled was unopen down a decennary agone and is nary longer disposable to play online.

2. BioShock Infinite

The 3rd mainline BioShock game, BioShock Infinite follows a Pinkerton detective named Booker Dewitt. Drowning successful debt, Dewitt is tasked with a elemental ngo to hitch distant what helium owes: task to the metropolis of Columbia and find a mysterious miss named Elizabeth.

However, erstwhile Dewitt arrives successful Columbia, things are acold from simple. Columbia is simply a metropolis floating supra the clouds and its citizens person branded Booker a “False Shepherd”, rallying unneurotic to execute him. Things get adjacent alien erstwhile Booker yet locates and rescues Elizabeth, who reveals she tin unfastened tears successful reality, allowing her to scope into different universes.

Teaming with Elizabeth to flight Columbia, players are taken connected an escapade done the flying metropolis, facing disconnected against the locals, their towering mechanical information bots, and Elizabeth’s relentless bodyguard, Songbird. Along the way, they tin unfastened rifts to different dimensions utilizing Elizabeth's unsocial powers, utilizing her gifts to scrounge up resources oregon task into caller realities altogether.

Read our review of Bioshock Infinite.

3. BioShock Infinite: Burial astatine Sea - Part 1

Set successful the aforesaid beingness arsenic BioShock and BioShock 2, BioShock Infinite: Burial astatine Sea - Part 1 is the archetypal of 2 expansions for BioShock Infinite. The DLC follows an alternate-universe Booker Dewitt who acts arsenic a backstage detective successful the metropolis of Rapture. Set earlier Rapture’s downfall, the crippled begins with Dewitt gathering Elizabeth, who tasks him with assisting her successful rescuing a missing miss named Sally.

Burial astatine Sea’s archetypal portion allows players to research a afloat operational Rapture acceptable earlier the events of the archetypal game. Alongside getting to spot the metropolis arsenic it erstwhile was, the DLC includes respective returning faces from erstwhile Rapture adventures, including Sander Cohen and Yi Suchong.

Read our review of Burial astatine Sea Episode 1.

4. BioShock Infinite: Burial astatine Sea - Part 2

Taking spot straight aft the events of Burial astatine Sea - Part 1, Burial astatine Sea - Part 2 switches power from Booker to Elizabeth. Waking up aft the melodramatic decision of the erstwhile expansion, Elizabeth meets Atlas, who strikes a woody with her: He’ll fto her and Sally unrecorded if she tin assistance him flight Fontaine's Department Store and instrumentality to Rapture.

Taking connected a caller stealth-focused playstyle to acceptable Elizabeth's accomplishment set, players research Fontaine's Department Store, attempting to fig retired however to instrumentality to Rapture and prevention Sally. Burial astatine Sea - Part 2 was Irrational Games’ and BioShock creator Ken Levine’s last instrumentality connected the BioShock universe. It attempts to wrapper up immoderate of the franchise’s biggest mysteries portion straight mounting up the events of the archetypal game.

Read our review of Burial astatine Sea Episode 2.

5. BioShock

The franchise's debut entry, BioShock follows Jack, the sole subsister of a devastating level crash. Escaping the wreckage of the accident, helium finds refuge successful a mysterious lighthouse, wherever helium discovers a submarine that transports him to the underwater metropolis of Rapture. Although the metropolis looks similar a technological marvel from afar, Jack rapidly realizes it’s hardly the oceanic utopia it appears to be.

Envisioned arsenic a neon-lit metropolis wherever society’s top minds are allowed ethical and originative state with nary governmental intervention, Rapture is simply a fallen wasteland by the clip Jack arrives. The blood-drenched streets are patrolled by monstrous citizens slaughtering each different successful hunt of a genetic-splicing cause known arsenic Adam, portion the city’s shadowy founder, Andrew Ryan, controls the ruins with an robust fist.

Teaming with a chap subsister named Atlas, players are tasked with venturing done the city, attempting to flight Rapture and instrumentality to the surface. Along the way, they summation entree to plasmids, almighty injections that unlock elemental powers. In the years pursuing its release, BioShock has go a classic, with galore regarding it arsenic 1 of the champion games of each time.

Read our review of Bioshock.

6. BioShock 2

A sequel to BioShock, BioShock 2 was developed by 2K Marin alternatively than Irrational. Strapping players into the hulking suit of a Big Daddy, BioShock 2 has players instrumentality to the submerged dystopia of Rapture 8 years aft the events of BioShock.

Taking power of a Big Daddy codenamed Subject Delta, the communicative follows the towering protagonist searching done the ruins of Rapture for a Little Sister helium utilized to protect. Along the way, he’s pursued by Sofia Lamb, a idiosyncratic who’s filled the powerfulness vacuum near by the deaths of Frank Fontaine and Andrew Ryan.

BioShock 2 was mostly a continuation of the gameplay and themes of the archetypal game, albeit with a hefty arsenal of brutal Big Daddy weaponry and a caller mechanic wherever players support Little Sisters portion they scavenge Adam.

Read our review of Bioshock 2.

7. BioShock 2: Minerva’s Den

An enlargement for BioShock 2 that occurs alongside the events of the main campaign, Minerva’s Den follows a 2nd Big Daddy codenamed Subject Sigma. Tasked with tracking down and accessing The Thinker – Rapture’s machine mainframe – Sigma works alongside the creator of the system, Charles Milton Porter, to retrieve it.

Minerva’s Den offered a abbreviated run that fills successful immoderate important Rapture lore and offers caller gear, including the Ion Laser and Gravity Well Plasmid. Minerva’s Den presently marks the extremity of the BioShock timeline.

Read our review of Bioshock 2: Minerva's Den.

How to Play the BioShock Series by Release Date

• BioShock (2007)
• BioShock: Challenge Rooms (2008)*
• BioShock 2 (2010)
• BioShock 2: Minerva’s Den (2010)
• BioShock Infinite: Industrial Revolution (2013)
• BioShock Infinite (2013)
• BioShock Infinite: Clash successful the Clouds (2013)*
• BioShock Infinite: Burial astatine Sea - Part 1 (2013)
• BioShock Infinite: Burial astatine Sea - Part 2 (2014)

*Non-canon

What’s Next for BioShock?

Plans are theoretically underway for a caller Bioshock game, but its been a rocky road. 2K officially announced the bid was getting different introduction backmost successful 2019, which we are tentatively labeling Bioshock 4. Following the closure of Irrational Games, the crippled was passed implicit to developer Cloud Chamber, and past improvement went beauteous quiet. This past summer, 2K confirmed that lay-offs astatine Cloud Chamber had impacted the game's improvement (the atrocious news), but that they are inactive pushing forward, present with Rod Fergusson (best known for the Gears of War series) connected their team.

A sequel isn't the lone long-awaited BioShock merchandise presently successful production. Back successful 2022, Netflix revealed it had greenlit a movie adaptation of the archetypal BioShock. Netflix aboriginal confirmed the movie volition beryllium directed by I Am Legend and Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes manager Francis Lawrence. Producer Roy Lee precocious confirmed that the movie is inactive successful progressive accumulation and is specifically adapting the archetypal Bioshock game.

BioShock creator Ken Levine’s adjacent project, Judas, is besides heavy successful development. From the aboriginal glimpse we saw astatine The Game Awards successful 2022, it seems akin to BioShock, from the dual-wielding combat to the high-concept sci-fi setting. If each goes to plan, it seems BioShock fans volition beryllium feasting connected a banquet of twisted sci-fi goodness implicit the adjacent fewer years.

Callum Williams is simply a freelance media writer with years of acquisition arsenic a crippled critic, quality reporter, guides writer and features writer.