All Kingdom Hearts games in release order

Do you remember these?

Riku throwing a chess piece in his right hand while looking at the chess board with his head resting in his left hand
Screenshot via Square Enix

With your Keyblade in hand, it’s time to revisit the origins of the beloved Square Enix franchise, Kingdom Hearts.

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Here are all Kingdom Hearts games you should know about by order of release.

Kingdom Hearts: All games in release order

Axel, Sora, and Xion laughing while eating an ice lolly in Kingdom Hearts 3
Do you remember these games better than Sora? Screenshot via Square Enix

Unlike Crash Bandicoot’s many developers, the Kingdom Hearts franchise is made exclusively by Square Enix. Created by Tetsuya Nomura, the world of Kingdom Hearts follows popular Disney and Square Enix characters. Sora, the main protagonist in nearly every mainline game, acts as the glue that keeps the franchise together and is the most consistent part of Kingdom Hearts.

Following the standard RPG format, Kingdom Hearts offers third-person fighting, because it’s clearly influenced by Square Enix’s Final Fantasy. The story is predominately told through cutscenes and follows a linear path, while also including side quests for those who are fully engrossed in the world and storytelling of Kingdom Hearts.

There are 14 mainline entries into the Kingdom Hearts franchise. The feature-length film, Kingdom Hearts x Back Cover is canonically part of the mainline series, but isn’t included in our list. While it has been announced, Kingdom Hearts 4 isn’t part of the table below since it’s release date remains unconfirmed, but we can guarantee this game will be mainline.

Here are all Kingdom Hearts games, ordered by their release dates. This list isn’t shown in the game’s chronological order, however. Entries on this list include prequels that were released after the first Kingdom Hearts (in 2002).

GameDoes it have a remake/reissue?Release DatePlatform(s)
Kingdom HeartsYes2002PlayStation 2
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of MemoriesYes2004PlayStation 2
Game Boy Advance
Kingdom Hearts IIYes2005PlayStation 2
Kingdom Hearts codedYes2008Nintendo DS
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 DaysNo2009Nintendo DS
Kingdom Hearts Birth by SleepYes2010PlayStation 3
PlayStation Portable
Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance Yes2012Nintendo 3DS
Kingdom Hearts Union χYes2013PC
Android
iOS
Fire OS
Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage-No2017PlayStation 4
Xbox One
Kingdom Hearts IIINo2017PlayStation 4
Nintendo Switch
Xbox One
PC
Kingdom Hearts Dark RoadNo2019iOS
Android
Fire OS
Kingdom Hearts: Melody of MemoryNo2020PlayStation 4
Xbox One
Nintendo Switch
PC
Kingdom Hearts Missing-LinkNo2024iOS
Android

Alongside Kingdom Hearts‘ mainline installments, Japanese had their own exclusive reissues of the original games. Surprisingly, the main difference between the Western original and the Japanese release is language and subtitle options. But the Chain of Memories and Kingdom HeartsFinal Mixes (remakes of the mainline series) include new difficulty, camera, and gameplay settings. Due to the changes, these games were later imported to North America.

As remakes were released few years after the original, Kingdom Hearts has also had its fair share of HD collections. These included the Final Mix of the mainline games, alongside bringing multiple games from the franchise into one place.

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Hadley Vincent
Writer for Dot since Oct. 2023. Just a Psychology graduate trying to find the meaning of life through gaming. An enthusiast of indie horror and anime, where you'll often find them obsessing over a great narrative and even better twists that'd make M. Night jealous. Their shocking twist? They think The Last of Us II is a masterpiece.