Prince of Persia is the most-renowned action-adventure game franchise since a generation of gamers grew up playing it. There are multiple Prince of Persia games, including several reboots. Although the game’s story has been rebooted many times, things that remain constant are a charismatic Prince and great parkour and combat sequences to enhance the gameplay.
Prince of Persia Game Series in Order
There have been many installments of Prince of Persia, but they are not part of the same timeline. The series has been rebooted many times, resulting in multiple storylines. Let’s see all the series in the game.
The Original Trilogy (1989-1999)
Now defunct game developers, Broderbund, developed the first-ever Prince of Persia in 1989 for Apple II. The game follows an unnamed Prince from medieval Persia set on an adventure through dangerous dungeons to rescue a princess, whom the evil Grand Vizier Jaffar has imprisoned.
In 1993, Broderbund released the sequel, Prince of Persia: The Shadow of the Flame, for MS-DOS. Mac, Super NES, and FM Towns. The game will once again follow the unnamed Prince. He would again have to defeat Jaffar, who seized the throne by impersonating the Prince and put the Princess under a death spell.
Prince of Persia 3D is the final installment in the original trilogy and the first game in the series to have 3D visuals. This 1999-released game was developed by Mindscape and released under the banners of Red Orb Entertainment for Windows PC. The game again follows the Persian Prince, who this time has to protect his love interest, the Princess from the schemes of Rugnor.
The Sands of Time Series (2003-2010)
After acquiring the Prince of Persia franchise in 2001, Ubisoft rebooted the series with Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. This 2003-released action adventure follows an unnamed Prince whom evil Vizir tricks to turn the people of Azad into monsters by releasing the sand in the Dagger of Time. However, the Prince is helped by Princess Farah to right his wrongs and defeat the Vizir.
Ubisoft released the sequel, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, the following year. It is set seven years after the events of 2003’s game, the Prince is being pursued by a mysterious being called Dahaka, who wants to punish him for meddling with the Sands of Time. He travels to the Island of Time to prevent Kaileena, Empress of Time, from creating sand to stop Dahaka from hunting him.
Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones is the third installment in the Sands of Time series, released in 2005. The game begins with the Prince returning home after the events of Warrior Within. However, he discovers his actions in the second game caused the events of The Sands of Time. The evil Vizir is back from the dead and has become an evil monster after absorbing the sand from Kaileena. The Prince teams up with Farah in the new timeline to defeat the Vizir again, while also struggling against his corrupt persona, the Dark Prince.
The last installment in The Sand of Time series is the 2010-released Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands. The game follows the titular Prince and the events are set during the seven-year gap between the first and second came in this series. The Prince visits his brother Malik to learn leadership but his city is attacked by invaders looking for the sealed Solomon’s Army. The Prince must save the city from the invader and the sealed army with the help of a djinn named Razia.
The 2008 Series
In 2008, Ubisoft rebooted the Prince of Persia series for a second time with a new game, simply titled Prince of Persia. This new game also featured a nameless Prince but wasn’t related to the Princes from the past games. This 2008-released action-adventure title follows the adventures of a Prince and his love interest Princess Elika to imprison the evil being called Ahriman, who was freed by Elika’s father, the Mourning King.
The 2024 Series
After a long hiatus, Ubisoft released a major Prince of Persia title, The Lost Crown, in 2024. It features a new protagonist named Sargon, who is part of The Immortals warrior clan. He must travel across Persia to protect the kidnapped Prince Ghassan. The developers confirmed this is not a reboot but a new chapter, hinting at possible connections to The Sands of Time series. However, we will only get it if there are connections between the two Prince of Persia series when a sequel releases for the 2024-released game-.
Prince of Persia Games Adaptations
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time was adapted into an action fantasy movie in 2010. It was directed by Boaz Yakin, Doug Miro, and Carlo Bernard. Moreover, renowned actors like Jack Gyllenhaal, Ben Kingsley, and Gemma Arterton were in the primary roles. The movie not only featured elements from the 2003-released game but also from Two Thrones and Warrior Within.
The plot revolves around the youngest and adoptive prince of the Persian Empire, Dastan, who comes across the mysterious Dagger of Time and Princess Tamina during the attack on the holy city of Alamut. Later, the Prince was accused of assassinating his father, King Sharaman. He must now protect the dagger while also uncovering the truth behind his father's murder to clear his name.
Platforms
The first Prince of Persia game was released for Apple II, but it was later ported to the later generation’s platforms, including mobile devices like Android and iOS.
The Shadow and the Flame was released on DOS in 1993 but was made available on Mac and FM Towns in 1994 and on Super NES in 1996. Moreover, an updated version of the game with improved visuals was released for iOS and Android in 2013.
Prince of Persia 3D was first released for Microsoft Windows in 1999 and a Dreamcast version was released the following year.
Sands of Time was released for GameCube, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, and Xbox in 2023. Moreover, Ubisoft also released versions of the game for Game Boy Advance and mobiles.
In 2004, Warrior Within was released for GameCube, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. The game was later released on other platforms like mobile, PSP, and iOS.
Ubisoft released The Two Thrones for PlayStation 2, GameCube, Microsoft Windows, and Xbox in 2005. The action-adventure game was later ported to other platforms like PSP, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Mac OS X.
The 2008 reboot was released for all the platforms of that time: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows. The following year, this game was also available on Mac OS X and a 2D version for Java-based mobiles.
The 2010-released The Forgotten Sands had multiple versions. The main version was released for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows. Later, they released special versions with different plots for Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, mobile and web browsers, and Wii.
The 2024-released Prince of Persia reboot, The Lost Crown, is playable on all new generation consoles like PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. It is also available on other platforms like Microsoft Windows and Nintendo Switch. Moreover, it was released on last-generation consoles like PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
System Requirements
These are the system requirements for playing all the Prince of Persia games on PC.
Minimum for Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
- OS: Windows 2000/XP
- CPU: Pentium III 800 MHz or AMD Athlon
- RAM: 256 MB
- GPU: 64MBNvidia GeForce 3 64 MB or ATI Radeon 8500 or Matrox Parhelia (GeForce4 MX not supported)
- Storage: 1.5GB
Minimum for Prince of Persia: Warrior Within
- OS: Windows 2000/XP
- CPU: Pentium III 1GHz or AMD Athlon
- RAM: 256 MB (512 MB recommended)
- GPU: Nvidia GeForce 3 64 MB or ATI Radeon 7500 or Intel 915G (Nvidia GeForce 4 or ATI Radeon 9500 or higher recommended)
- Storage: 1.5GB
Minimum for Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones
- OS: Windows 2000/XP
- CPU: 1GHz Pentium III or AMD Athlon
- RAM: 256 MB
- GPU: 32MBATI DirectX 9.0c compliant
- Storage: 1.5GB
Recommended for Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones
- OS: Windows 2000/XP
- CPU: 1.5GHz Pentium IV or AMD Athlon
- RAM: 512 MB
- GPU: 128MBATI 7500/8500/9000/X series or Nvidia GeForce 3/4/FX/6/7 series (GeForce 4 MX not supported)
- Storage: 1.5GB
Minimum for Prince of Persia (2008 Reboot)
- OS: Windows XP/Vista
- CPU: Dual-core processor 2.6 GHz Intel Pentium D or AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ recommended)
- RAM: 1 GB for Windows XP/2 GB for Windows Vista
- GPU: 256MBATI Radeon X1600/1650-1950/HD 2000–4000 series, or Nvidia GeForce 6800/7/8/9/GTX 260–280 series.
- Storage: 9GB
Minimum for Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
- OS: Windows XP (SP3)/Vista (SP2)
- CPU: 2.6 GHz dual-core Intel Pentium D or AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ or higher recommended)
- RAM: 1 GB for Windows XP / 2 GB for Windows Vista (2GB / 4GB recommended)
- GPU: 256 MB (512 MB recommended)Nvidia GeForce 6800/7/8/9/100/200/GTX series, or ATI Radeon X1600/HD 2000/HD 3000/HD 4000/HD 5000 series
- Storage: 8GB
Minimum for Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
- OS: Windows 10 (64-bit only)
- CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.4 GHz or AMD Ryzen3 1200 3.1 GHz
- RAM: 8GB
- GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 950 (2GB VRAM) or AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT (4GB VRAM)
- Storage: 30GB
Recommended for Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
- OS: Windows 10 (64-bit only)
- CPU: Intel Core i7-6700 3.4 GHz or AMD Ryzen5 1600 3.2 GHz
- RAM: 8GB
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 (4GB VRAM) or AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT (4GB VRAM)
- Storage: 30GB
FAQs on Prince of Persia
The Sands of Times series and the 2008 reboot are available on Steam. That is not the case with Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. Ubisoft usually lists their games on their storefront and Epic Games Store. However, they might eventually add it to Steam since other games from Ubisoft like Assassin’s Creed are also available there.
With the success of Assassin’s Creed, which is the spiritual successor to Prince of Persia, Ubisoft shifted its attention to it. This was a major reason for the French developers not releasing Prince of Persia titles after The Forgotten Sands. The latest title is also a 2.5D side scroller and not a 3D open-world like the older Prince of Persia or the Assassin’s Creed games
There are nine major installments in the Prince of Persia franchise, which are listed below with their release year.
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1989 - Prince of Persia
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1993 - The Shadow and the Flame
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1999 - Prince of Persia 3D
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2003 - The Sands of Time
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2004 - Warrior Within
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2005 - The Two Thrones
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2008 - Prince of Persia (Reboot)
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2010 - The Forgotten Sands
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2024 - Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is the best game in the franchise since it helped it revive after the failure of Prince of Persia 3D. The parkour and the combat system paved the way for many future games, especially Assassin’s Creed. Moreover, the well-written story and characters made the game even more memorable.
The next title in this renowned series is The Rogue Prince of Persia, a 2D side-scrolling game with roguelike elements. It is currently available on Windows for early access. This title is a spin-off rather than a major installment. Aside from this, Ubisoft is also developing a remake of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.
Assassin’s Creed didn’t copy Prince of Persia, since the series is a spiritual successor to it. Ubisoft planned a Prince of Persia spin-pff game based on an assassin protecting the Prince, which was scrapped. However, this concept gave birth to the first Assassin’s Creed game.