As one of the most thematically complex game franchises ever, Silent Hill is a shared horror series where pretty much each game takes you on a different journey, although we do hope the movies take a journey to being good at some point. Several games use the same town, cult and history, but most follow new protagonists whose nightmares can be understood without completing everything released before them. New games even wander off to different locations entirely.
Want to get into this cult favourite? Well, Release order remains the best introduction because later games reuse ideas, places and names from earlier ones. Chronological order is what you’re after for the three games surrounding Alessa and the Mason family. Let’s figure it out.
The recommended Silent Hill play order
For a broad tour of the main games, use this order:
Silent Hill
Silent Hill 2 or the 2024 remake
Silent Hill 3
Silent Hill 4: The Room
Silent Hill: Origins
Silent Hill: Homecoming
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
Silent Hill: Downpour
Silent Hill: The Short Message
Silent Hill f
Silent Hill: Townfall
Bear in mind, this is not a strict chronology. It introduces the original mythology before the prequel expands it and keeps remakes beside the games they reinterpret.
Which Silent Hill games form a direct story?
It’s a little confusing. You’d expect maybe 1, 2, and 3, but no. Here are the actual games that are fully connected:
Silent Hill: Origins
Silent Hill
Silent Hill 3
Origins follows truck driver Travis Grady before the first game. Konami explicitly marketed it as a prequel, but newcomers should still play the 1999 game first because Origins revisits its cult, characters and locations. Also, it’s a better game.
The original Silent Hill follows Harry Mason searching for his missing daughter, Cheryl. Silent Hill 3 continues that central storyline through Heather Mason and reveals how her past connects to Harry, Alessa and the town’s cult. It is the closest the main series comes to a conventional numbered sequel.
Play the original before Silent Hill 3, or it really will not hit the same.
Is Silent Hill 2 connected to the first game?
Silent Hill 2 occupies the same wider setting but tells a separate story about James Sunderland, who travels to Silent Hill after receiving a letter from his dead wife. It does not continue Harry’s search or require knowledge of the cult plot. The 2024 Silent Hill 2 is a full remake, not another sequel.
Choose either version for James’s story. But maybe opt for the remake if you like smoother gameplay.
Where does Silent Hill 4 fit?
Silent Hill 4: The Room follows Henry Townshend after he becomes trapped inside his South Ashfield apartment. It isn’t a direct continuation of Silent Hill 3, although it belongs to the established game world and expands the lore surrounding serial killer Walter Sullivan.
Walter was mentioned in Silent Hill 2, and The Room contains further connections to the cult. You will have to play it to know for sure.
Are Homecoming and Downpour standalone?
Broadly, yes. Homecoming follows Alex Shepherd returning to neighbouring Shepherd’s Glen, while Downpour follows prisoner Murphy Pendleton after a transport crash leaves him near Silent Hill.
Both use the established town and its supernatural rules, while Homecoming draws more visibly on the cult. Neither requires an earlier save or detailed knowledge of another protagonist. Downpour can more or less be skipped entirely.
Is Shattered Memories a remake or a separate timeline?
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories reimagines the premise of the first game: Harry is again searching for Cheryl, but its characters, events and frozen Otherworld develop differently.
It’s a reimagining rather than a replacement, while producer Tomm Hulett said it occupies its own universe outside the established timeline. Play it after the original for comparison, not between Origins and Silent Hill 3.
Where do The Short Message, Silent Hill f and Townfall fit?
All three are accessible without playing any of the earlier games.
The Short Message is a modern, short-form story about Anita. Konami explicitly describes it as complete and independent of previous and upcoming entries. It’s also totally free.
Silent Hill f is an original story set in 1960s Japan, in the town of Ebisugaoka. Its characters and setting were created specifically for the game rather than continuing the Mason storyline.
Silent Hill: Townfall is a full-length, self-contained story set in Scotland in 1996. It was released on 24 September 2026 and follows Simon Ordell on the isolated island of St Amelia.
They share Silent Hill’s approach to psychological horror, fog and personal guilt, but not the location of Silent Hill itself.
What about Ascension, Book of Memories and the films?
Silent Hill: Ascension is an interactive streaming series. It is really terrible. Maybe catch it on YouTube.
Book of Memories is a multiplayer dungeon crawler for PS Vita and is unnecessary for the wider canon. It’s not the worst game ever, but it isn’t great.
The films are adaptations with their own character histories and continuity. Maybe catch the first movie for the art direction, then skip the other two.
For a newcomer, start with Silent Hill, Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3. Then, check out whichever game you want next.
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