Look, I get it. Trying to figure out the Kingdom Hearts game release order is basically like trying to untangle a ball of yarn that a cat has been playing with for twenty years. You think you’ve got the thread, and then suddenly you're staring at a mobile game about a "Book of Prophecies" that somehow explains why a guy in a black hoodie is crying in a different game from 2005.
It’s a mess. Honestly.
But here is the thing: if you try to play these games in "chronological" order (starting with the ancient Keyblade War), you are going to be so confused you’ll want to throw your controller. You’ll meet characters who are supposed to be "mysterious" but you already know their whole life story. It ruins the vibe. The best way—the only way that actually makes sense for your brain—is to follow the release order. This lets the mysteries unfold exactly how director Tetsuya Nomura intended, even if he was making some of it up as he went along.
The PS2 Era: Where the Magic (and Confusion) Started
In 2002, we got the original Kingdom Hearts. It was a simple time. You were Sora, you had a giant key, and you hung out with Donald and Goofy to find your friends. It felt like a self-contained Disney adventure with some Final Fantasy cameos. We didn't know about Nobodies or Heartless clones yet. We were innocent.
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Then things got weird.
Instead of a direct sequel on the PS2, Square Enix dropped Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories on the Game Boy Advance in 2004. This is the first "trap" for new players. People saw it was on a handheld with card-based combat and thought, "Oh, I can skip this."
Big mistake.
If you skip Chain of Memories, you start Kingdom Hearts II (2005) and literally have no idea why Sora is waking up in a pod or who the guys in the black coats are. Kingdom Hearts II is widely considered the peak of the series' combat, but narratively, it’s the moment the series committed to being a complex soap opera.
The Handheld "Side" Games That Weren't Actually Side Games
After the massive success of the second main game, we entered what I call the "Console Hop" era. This is where most people lost the plot. Between 2005 and 2019, we didn't get Kingdom Hearts 3. We got a decade of games on every device imaginable.
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- Kingdom Hearts Coded (2008): Originally an episodic mobile game in Japan. Later remade as Re:coded for the DS. It's mostly filler, but the ending actually matters.
- Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (2009): Released on the Nintendo DS. It follows Roxas and his time in Organization XIII. It’s a tragic story, and honestly, it hits harder if you play it after KH2, even though it takes place before it.
- Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep (2010): This was on the PSP. Don't let the "handheld" status fool you; this is essentially Kingdom Hearts 0. It’s a prequel following three new characters—Terra, Aqua, and Ventus. It set the stage for everything that happened in the original 2002 game.
The Road to Kingdom Hearts III
By the time 2012 rolled around, fans were begging for a numbered sequel. Instead, we got Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance on the 3DS.
This game is the literal bridge to the third main entry. It introduced "Flowmotion" movement and a plot involving time travel that made everyone's heads spin. If you didn't play this, the start of Kingdom Hearts III makes zero sense.
Around this time, Square Enix realized nobody owned a PSP, a DS, and a 3DS all at once. They started releasing the "HD Remix" collections. These are your best friend. They bundled the games into 1.5, 2.5, and 2.8. Basically, if it’s got a decimal point in the title, it’s a compilation or a prologue.
In 2017, we got Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep – A Fragmentary Passage. Yes, that is the real title. It’s a short, three-hour tech demo for the Kingdom Hearts III engine, following Aqua in the Realm of Darkness. It was bundled with a movie called Back Cover which explained the lore of the mobile game, Kingdom Hearts χ (pronounced "Key").
Finally, The "Conclusion" (Sorta)
Kingdom Hearts III finally landed in 2019. It was supposed to end the "Dark Seeker Saga." It’s a massive, beautiful game, though it spends a lot of time wrapping up plot points from those handheld games we talked about.
But of course, it wasn't the end.
In 2020, we got the Re Mind DLC, which fixed a lot of the endgame complaints and added some of the hardest boss fights in the series. Later that same year, Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory came out. It’s a rhythm game. You might think, "I can definitely skip the rhythm game."
Nope. The last twenty minutes of that game contain the massive cliffhanger that sets up Kingdom Hearts 4.
What’s Happening Now?
As of 2026, we are in the "Lost Master Arc." We know Kingdom Hearts 4 is in the works, and it looks weirdly realistic—like, Sora is in a version of Tokyo called Quadratum.
The mobile game scene has been a bit of a rollercoaster too. Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link was the big upcoming title, though its development has been quiet. These mobile entries (including the defunct Union χ and Dark Road) are actually where the "deep lore" lives now. They explain the origins of the series' big bad, Xehanort, and the ancient masters who are likely going to be the villains of the next decade.
The Quick-Reference Release List
If you want to buy them today, just look for the "Integrum Masterpiece" bundle. It has almost everything. But here is the specific Kingdom Hearts game release order for your checklist:
- Kingdom Hearts (2002)
- Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (2004)
- Kingdom Hearts II (2005)
- Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (2009)
- Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep (2010)
- Kingdom Hearts Re:coded (2010)
- Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance (2012)
- Kingdom Hearts χ / Union χ (2013–2016)
- Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep – A Fragmentary Passage (2017)
- Kingdom Hearts III (2019)
- Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory (2020)
- Kingdom Hearts Dark Road (2020)
One little tip: in the 1.5+2.5 collection, the menu lists 358/2 Days before Kingdom Hearts II. Most hardcore fans (me included) say you should swap them. Days reveals things about the protagonist of KH2 that are way more impactful if you meet him in KH2 first.
To get started, your first move should be grabbing the Kingdom Hearts All-in-One Package on PlayStation or the Integrum Masterpiece on PC/Xbox. These bundles are usually on sale and contain the "Final Mix" versions of the games, which have extra bosses and scenes that weren't in the original US releases. Start with the very first game (Final Mix) and just let the weirdness wash over you. Don't worry if you don't understand everything immediately; nobody did in 2002 either.