For a first playthrough, use release order: Silent Hill (1999), Silent Hill 2 (2001), Silent Hill 3 (2003), Silent Hill 4: The Room (2004), then the later games and side entries. If you want the most connected original storyline, play Silent Hill: Origins → Silent Hill → Silent Hill 3.
Silent Hill: Townfall launched on September 24, 2026. It is a full-length first-person game set on the fictional Scottish island of St. Amelia. Konami has not assigned it a confirmed place in the older games’ in-world chronology, so treat it as a later, largely independent entry rather than a required sequel or prequel.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
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Silent Hill HD Collection | $23.00 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
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Silent Hill 2 (PS5) | $29.50 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
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SILENT HILL: townfall | DAY ONE EDITION - PlayStation 5 | $49.92 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
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Silent Hill: Homecoming - Playstation 3 | $22.99 | Buy on Amazon |
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What order should I play the Silent Hill games in?
Release order is the safest recommendation for a first visit to the series. It preserves the way the games introduced their mechanics, themes and references, while avoiding the need to force loosely connected stories into one timeline. Dates below are years because launch days differed by region.
Complete practical release order
| # | Game | First release | How to treat it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Silent Hill | 1999 | The original game and the starting point for the classic arc. |
| 2 | Silent Hill 2 | 2001 | A separate story with a new protagonist. |
| 3 | Silent Hill 3 | 2003 | The direct story follow-up to the original. |
| 4 | Silent Hill 4: The Room | 2004 | A distinct protagonist and storyline. |
| 5 | Silent Hill: Origins | 2007 | A prequel to the original game. |
| 6 | Silent Hill: Homecoming | 2008 | A later series installment with limited ties to the classic sequence. |
| 7 | Silent Hill: Shattered Memories | 2009 | An alternate-reality reimagining rather than a missing chapter in the original continuity. |
| 8 | Silent Hill: Downpour | 2012 | A later standalone-feeling story whose precise place in the classic chronology is disputed. |
| 9 | Silent Hill: Book of Memories | 2012 | An optional side entry with no established required connection to the original sequence. |
| 10 | Silent Hill: The Short Message | 2024 | An optional modern side story. |
| 11 | Silent Hill 2 (remake) | 2024 | A remake of the 2001 game, not a new numbered chapter. |
| 12 | Silent Hill f | 2025 | A new story with new characters and a Japanese setting. |
| 13 | Silent Hill: Townfall | September 24, 2026 | A new first-person game set on St. Amelia; no confirmed slot in the older event chronology. |
This is a practical video-game route, not a list of every mobile, arcade, pachislot, cancelled or interactive-media project. Silent Hill: Ascension, for example, is an interactive streaming series rather than a conventional game in this play-through order.
#1 Best Overall
- Experience the two classic Silent Hill titles previously released on PlayStation 2, Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams & Silent Hill 3, that defined the Survival Horror genre in its early inception
- Both titles re-mastered to HD at 720p for improved graphics on PlayStation 3
- Completely updated in-game voiceover directed by series vocalist Mary Elizabeth McGlynn and soundtrack score enhancing the storytelling and ambient music within each re-mastered game
- Full PlayStation Network Trophies support integration
Why release order works
The first four releases establish the series’ core vocabulary before the later games experiment with prequels, alternate realities and new settings. Playing Silent Hill before Silent Hill 3 also preserves the most important direct narrative relationship. Silent Hill 2 can sit between them without interrupting that arc because it follows a different protagonist and story.
After Silent Hill 4, the remaining entries can be approached as expansions of the series rather than chapters that must be fitted into one continuous family tree. That distinction matters: “release order” tells you when players encountered each work, while “story order” only works cleanly for a few of them.
Release years are used instead of exact worldwide dates because games often arrived in different regions on different days. A regional launch list can therefore look slightly different without changing the recommended sequence. The numbered list also separates the 2001 original and 2024 remake so you do not accidentally count the remake as a fourteenth plot chapter.
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If your priority is the clearest linked narrative rather than historical release context, use this three-game sequence:
- Silent Hill: Origins — the prequel.
- Silent Hill — the original central chapter.
- Silent Hill 3 — the direct follow-up.
Origins supplies earlier events, while Silent Hill 3 continues the storyline established by the 1999 game. You can then play Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 4: The Room as separate stories without needing to rearrange the three-game arc.
There is a trade-off. Starting with a prequel gives you chronological context, but it also means seeing later-developed explanations and references before the original audience did. If you want the series’ reveals to arrive in their intended order, begin with the 1999 game and move through Silent Hill 3; choose Origins first only when an in-world sequence matters more than release history.
Where Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 4 belong
The two games have different protagonists and do not form a direct two-part plot. A guidebook-derived chronology places Silent Hill 2 roughly ten years before Silent Hill 4: The Room, which can be useful background if you enjoy timeline analysis. It is not a requirement for understanding either game, and the wider chronology contains inconsistencies, so do not treat that interval as a definitive universal date.
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In practical terms, play both in release order or slot them after the original-to-third-game arc. Neither game is homework for the other, and neither is required before Townfall or Silent Hill f.
Homecoming and Downpour
Play Homecoming and Downpour after the classic titles if you want to see how later developers interpreted the setting. A chronology reference that draws on the games and official Japanese guidebooks excludes them from its core sequence because their links to the classic continuity are limited and their canon status is questioned there. They are better treated as later series stories than as precise steps in a numbered timeline.
Do not stop a playthrough to calculate an exact year for either game. Their value in a catalog run is seeing different protagonists, locations and interpretations, not resolving a single master calendar.
Shattered Memories
Shattered Memories is an alternate-reality reimagining. It revisits ideas from the original game but should not be inserted between the original chapters as though it were a conventional sequel. Play it as a separate interpretation whenever you want a different take on the premise.
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Rank #2
- Fully Remade to terrify modern audiences
- KONAMI's intense psychological horror masterpiece SILENT HILL 2 is made exclusively for PlayStation 5
- The main protagonist James Sunderland searches for clues in the namesake town, after receiving a mysterious letter from his wife Mary… who has long been dead
- Experience the eerie monsters and other manifestations of James' consciousness reworked after 20 years
- Made with state-of-the-art technology to play on modern entertainment systems in 4K
Where does Townfall fit?
Townfall is best placed after the earlier releases by launch date, especially if you are completing the catalog in release order. It does not need to be played before Silent Hill f, and nothing in the cited official announcement establishes it as a sequel to Silent Hill 2, a prequel to the 1999 game or a bridge between older titles.
What Konami establishes about Townfall
- It launched on September 24, 2026.
- It is available on PlayStation 5, Steam and the Epic Games Store.
- The protagonist is Simon Ordell.
- The setting is St. Amelia, a fictional remote island in Scotland.
- Konami describes it as the series’ first full-length game presented entirely from a first-person perspective.
The announcement establishes the premise and release, but does not give Townfall a position in the event chronology of the older games. The accurate guidance is therefore “later by release, independent in story placement,” not a confident claim that it occurs before or after a particular numbered entry.
For a newcomer, that means you can start with Townfall if its first-person format and Scottish setting appeal to you. You will miss historical references that a long-time player may notice, but there is no confirmed older-game prerequisite. For a completionist, put it after Silent Hill f and the other released entries simply because that preserves launch history.
The Dock House companion story
SILENT HILL: Townfall – The Dock House is an official narrative companion and prequel set on St. Amelia. It appeared in 2000 AD Prog 2500, with print and digital editions announced. It is optional reading: it can add context to Townfall, but it is neither a substitute for the game nor a prerequisite for playing it.
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If you collect physical tie-in material, treat the comic as a separate purchase and check whether the print or digital edition is available in your region. Its existence does not change the game order, and reading it first is a preference rather than a continuity requirement.
How to handle the 2024 remake and newer standalone stories
Silent Hill 2 (2001) versus Silent Hill 2 (2024)
The 2024 release is a remake of the 2001 Silent Hill 2, not a new chronological entry. For a first exposure, you can use the remake as an accessible substitute for the original. If you want to compare adaptation choices, play the 2001 version first and then the remake.
Konami describes the remake as changing the presentation and expanding the original experience, including an over-the-shoulder camera, expanded areas, revised combat and additional cutscenes. Those changes make it useful to treat the two versions as separate experiences of the same story rather than as consecutive plot chapters.
The choice depends on your goal. The original preserves the 2001 design and its place in release history; the remake offers the modernized presentation. Playing both can reveal how spaces, combat and scenes were reinterpreted, but buying or finishing both is optional for understanding the broader series.
Silent Hill f
Silent Hill f introduces new characters and a Japanese setting. Konami says it is designed to be enjoyable for newcomers as well as returning players. You can therefore play it at any point after the classic games—or before Townfall—without needing it as setup for the St. Amelia story.
Its September 2025 launch also makes it the latest new story before Townfall in the release list. A newcomer who starts with f is choosing a self-contained branch, not skipping a mandatory prologue.
The Short Message and Book of Memories
Both are optional side entries. No established source assigns either one a necessary position in the original Silent Hill → Silent Hill 3 storyline. Include them when you want a broader survey of the catalog, not because a later mainline game requires them.
Rank #3
- Experienced entirely in first person, explore, evade, and survive using a limited set of weapons and tools, including a pocket television used to tune into unstable signals. Evasion is tense; combat is frenetic, while narrative driven puzzles reveal a truth that refuses to stay submerged.
- SILENT HILL: Townfall is a full-length, self-contained psychological horror set against the cold, isolated backdrop of Scotland, 1996
Book of Memories belongs in the 2012 portion of a release-order survey, while The Short Message belongs with the 2024 releases. Their placement is bibliographic rather than a claim that one story leads directly into another.
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You want the original player experience
Follow the 13-entry release list above, including the remake and newer releases where they appeared. This route shows the series’ development in the order audiences first encountered it and avoids spoilers that can arise when a prequel is played before the original.
You want only the clearest connected story
Play Origins, Silent Hill and Silent Hill 3. Add Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 4 afterward as separate stories, then sample the later entries according to your interest.
You want to compare versions
Play the 2001 Silent Hill 2 first, followed by the 2024 remake. Do not count the remake as an additional numbered story chapter. You can then continue to Silent Hill f or Townfall; neither comparison requires a specific order.
You want every major game but not every experiment
Use release order through Downpour, then decide whether to include Book of Memories, The Short Message, the remake, Silent Hill f and Townfall. The first two are optional side-oriented works; the remake revisits an existing story; the latter two introduce new settings or characters.
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There is no requirement to own every original platform to understand the recommended relationships. Use whichever legitimate version of an entry you can access, and remember that a remake is an alternative presentation of Silent Hill 2, not a replacement chapter in the chronology. For Townfall, the confirmed current platforms are PS5, Steam and Epic Games Store; a physical PS5 edition was also announced.
How reliable is the Silent Hill timeline?
The all-games release chronology is comparatively straightforward, but the in-world timeline is not. The commonly cited reconstruction from Silent Hill Memories draws on the games and supporting materials, including three official Japanese guidebooks. It also notes that exact years are not supplied consistently and that contradictions occur. Use it as a carefully sourced secondary reconstruction, not as an official declaration of one perfectly consistent canon.
That limitation explains why a few relative statements are useful while a complete chronological ordering is not. Origins is identified as a prequel, and Silent Hill 3 follows the original directly. By contrast, the approximate ten-year placement of Silent Hill 2 before Silent Hill 4 is contextual rather than essential, and the later games resist a single universally accepted position.
When a list claims to place every title on one exact calendar, check whether it distinguishes guide-derived estimates from explicit publisher statements. In particular, no confirmed older-continuity date should be assigned to Townfall based only on fan timelines.
Availability and current series context
For Townfall, the confirmed platforms are PlayStation 5, Steam and the Epic Games Store. Konami also announced a physical PS5 version, so a physical purchase is an option where regional listings and stock support it. Check the listing for your country before buying because availability, editions and launch timing can vary by region.
The franchise remains active: Konami Digital Entertainment reported more than 17.8 million Silent Hill series copies worldwide through the end of June 2026, counting units shipped, store downloads and subscription services. Konami Group also reported that Silent Hill f passed one million global sales within two days of its September 2025 release. Those figures describe commercial performance, not a recommended play order, but they explain why several different entry points are now available.
Rank #4
- Enter the next chapter of Silent Hill and learn the town history
- first silent hill game on PS3
- All new next gen graphics bring silent hill to life like never before
- solve treacherous and deadly puzzles to learn dark secrets
- features an all new soundtrack by acclaimed series composer Akira Yamaoka
Neither figure means that one game is objectively the correct starting point. Sales totals include multiple distribution formats, while the route you choose should depend on whether you value release history, the connected original arc, or a modern standalone experience.
A spoiler-conscious checklist
- Start with Silent Hill if you want the classic arc intact.
- Play Origins first only when a prequel-first approach matters more to you than release context.
- Keep Silent Hill 2 separate from the original-to-third-game storyline.
- Treat Shattered Memories as a reimagining, not a continuity chapter.
- Do not force Homecoming or Downpour into an exact numbered timeline.
- Count the 2024 Silent Hill 2 as a remake of the 2001 game.
- Approach Silent Hill f as a newcomer-friendly new story.
- Put Townfall after earlier entries by release date, while leaving its older-continuity placement open.
- Read The Dock House only as optional companion material for Townfall.
- Check your region before purchasing a physical edition or comic, since listings and stock can differ.
Frequently Asked Questions
What order should I play the Silent Hill games in?
For a first playthrough, use release order: Silent Hill (1999), Silent Hill 2 (2001), Silent Hill 3 (2003), Silent Hill 4: The Room (2004), Origins (2007), Homecoming (2008), Shattered Memories (2009), Downpour and Book of Memories (2012), The Short Message and the Silent Hill 2 remake (2024), Silent Hill f (2025), then Townfall (2026).
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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallWhat is the best story order for the original arc?
Play Silent Hill: Origins, then Silent Hill, then Silent Hill 3. Origins is the prequel and Silent Hill 3 directly follows the original. Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 4: The Room are separate stories you can add afterward.
Can I start with Silent Hill 2?
Yes. Silent Hill 2 has a different protagonist and story from the original-to-third-game arc, so it works as an entry point. If you want the original connected storyline, start with Silent Hill instead.
Is Silent Hill 2 (2024) a sequel?
No. It is a remake of the 2001 Silent Hill 2. Konami describes expanded areas, revised combat, an over-the-shoulder view and additional cutscenes. Play the original first only if you want to compare versions.
Where does Townfall fit in the timeline?
Townfall belongs after the earlier games by release date, launching on September 24, 2026. Konami has not assigned it a confirmed place in the older games’ event chronology, so do not label it an established sequel, prequel or bridge.
Do I need to play Silent Hill f before Townfall?
No. Silent Hill f has new characters and a Japanese setting, and Konami says it is newcomer-friendly. Nothing announced for Townfall makes f a prerequisite.
Is The Dock House required before Townfall?
No. The Dock House is an official narrative companion and prequel set on St. Amelia, published in 2000 AD Prog 2500. It is optional reading, not a substitute for or requirement to play the game.
Are Homecoming and Downpour part of one exact canon timeline?
Their connections to the classic sequence are limited, and a chronology reference questions their placement and canon status. Treat them as later series stories rather than forcing them into a precise numbered calendar.
Is Silent Hill: Ascension a game I need to include?
No. Ascension is an interactive streaming series, not a conventional video game in this play-through list. The practical order focuses on released games and optional game side entries.
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Where can I play Townfall?
Konami announced PlayStation 5, Steam and Epic Games Store versions, plus a physical PS5 edition. Confirm the current regional listing, edition and stock before purchasing.
The Bottom Line
Use release order for your first complete playthrough. For the most coherent original storyline, choose Origins → Silent Hill → Silent Hill 3. Play Townfall after the earlier games by release date, but do not treat it as an officially placed sequel, prequel or required connection to the classic continuity.
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