How to play the Borderlands games in order

If you're new to the games thanks to the film, you're probably wondering what the best order to play them is. There are a handful of them and a bunch of DLC expansions by now.

Fortunately for you, we do have a recommended best order to play the Borderlands games in.

There are a couple ways to play through them all, though, and you'll find both - in order of release and story chronological order - below.

Borderlands games in order of release

Borderlands

Borderlands first burst onto the scene in 2009 and immediately captured the hearts of gamers with its distinct style and frantic, funny, gameplay. The game was a huge success and rightly so and it has not lost any of its spark or creativity in the games that have followed. Also, thanks to the remaster, it has aged well too and remains just as playable today as it was when it was first released 12 years ago.

Buy the first Borderlands game from Amazon.

Borderlands 2

Releasing three years after the first, Borderlands 2 came along and it only took players a few minutes to realise that this was not going to be a disappointing follow-up. The first was great fun, but this dialled things up and took the foundations from the original and crafted it into a game that is superior in many ways. And it didn't lose its heart either with the same level of insane gameplay and hilarious moments littered throughout. A very worthy sequel indeed.

Buy Borderlands: The Handsome Collection from Amazon. (Includes Borderlands 2 and The Pre-Sequel).

Borderlands The Pre-Sequel

This one will cause some issues with playing through chronologically as while it does take place in between the first two games, it is framed as a giant flashback and it does feel more at home coming after Borderlands 2. As for the game itself, while not as impactful as the first two, it remains a huge amount of fun to play and garnered favourable reviews upon release. Not an integral game in the series, but one well worth playing.

Buy Borderlands: The Handsome Collection from Amazon. (Includes Borderlands 2 and The Pre-Sequel).

Tales From the Borderlands

A very different experience this, but one worth including as not only is it a good game, but it really delves further into the world and lore while being an entertaining story in its own right. This one comes from Telltale, the company known for their episodic point and click stories, and it is full of incredibly funny moments and some fantastic action. The only downside to this is that we never got a follow up to it and several key things are left hanging but that aside, this is worth a play even if you have never touched a Borderlands game before.

Buy Tales From the Borderlands from Amazon.

Borderlands 3

Borderlands 3 was released in 2019 and while changing things up a bit from what came before and giving us new planets to explore, it didn't quite capture the magic that the first two main series games did. It remains great fun, ludicrously silly, and, at times, innovative, but it suffers somewhat from franchise fatigue with issues players have had with the games, bullet sponge boss fights for one, being more prominent than ever. Hopefully, when we get Borderlands 4, the developers will take the feedback on board and come back with the best game yet.

Buy Borderlands 3 from Amazon.

Tiny Tina's Wonderlands

A Borderlands spin-off, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands is a direct sequel to Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep (a DLC expansion for Borderlands 2). The setting is a little different from the mainline games in Wonderlands, as it is set in a fantasy-themed tabletop role-playing game. It reviewed generally well upon its release in 2022.

Buy Tiny Tina's Wonderlands from Amazon.

New Tales from the Borderlands

The (current) latest game in the series is a follow-up to Tales from the Borderlands. New Tales from the Borderlands is another adventure game in the same mold as the original. It released back in October 2022 to mixed reviews.

Buy New Tales from the Borderlands on Amazon.

Borderlands games in chronological order

This one is a little complicated and, for what it's worth, we do advise playing through the games in release order but if you want to play it all in story order, mostly, here is how.

• Borderlands
• Borderlands 2
• Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel
• Tales from the Borderlands
• Borderlands 3
• New Tales from the Borderlands
• Tiny Tina's Wonderlands

The issue here lies with the Pre-Sequel. While yes, the bulk of the action takes place after the first Borderlands and before the second, the structure of the game is told via flashbacks and the present-day section is set after Borderlands 2.

So while, yes, you can play through this way and it will be mostly in story order, for us, the definitive way to work your way through the crazy universe that Borderlands has to offer is essentially the release order. When you play Tiny Tina's Wonderlands doesn't matter as much because it is a spin-off.

Is the Borderlands movie canon?

No, the Borderlands movie is not canon to the events of the game series.

Randy Pitchford, boss of Gearbox (the studio which develops the Borderlands games) explained in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) back in 2021 that "the movie is canon to the cinematic universe".

"The games are canon to the videogame universe. There are parallels between them, but also differences... Consider how Marvel has handled movies versus comic books for reference."

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