Play Order (Release = Chronological)Recommended
0 / 4 playedRelease order, which is also story order: the Bhaalspawn saga first, then the sequel set a century later.
- 1 Baldur's Gate Play the Enhanced Edition (2012), which bundles the Tales of the Sword Coast expansion (1999).
- 2 Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear Beamdog bridge expansion set between BG1 and BG2. Requires BG: Enhanced Edition.
- 3 Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn Play the Enhanced Edition (2013), which bundles the Throne of Bhaal expansion (2001) that ends the saga.
- 4 Baldur's Gate 3 Larian sequel with a new cast. Also works as a modern entry point. Final major patch: Patch 8 (2025).
About Baldur's Gate
Release order is the play order across the Bhaalspawn saga and Baldur's Gate 3: the 1998 original with its expansion, the 2016 bridge expansion Siege of Dragonspear, Baldur's Gate 2 with Throne of Bhaal, and Larian's 2023 sequel. Release order matches story order, since Siege of Dragonspear was written to slot between the first two games.
New players should start with Baldur's Gate 3 if they want modern combat and presentation, or with Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition if they want the full saga from the beginning. The Beamdog Enhanced Editions bundle the original expansions and run on current systems, so buy those instead of hunting down the 1998 to 2001 discs.
Good to know
Siege of Dragonspear needs Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, and its save imports into Baldur's Gate 2: Enhanced Edition. Throne of Bhaal (2001) closes the Bhaalspawn story, while Baldur's Gate 3 is set more than a century later with a new cast. Patch 8 (April 2025) was Larian's final major BG3 patch, adding cross-play, photo mode and 12 subclasses; the studio has moved on to its own RPGs and no Baldur's Gate 4 has been announced. Icewind Dale (2000) and its sequel use the same Infinity Engine but tell a separate combat-heavy story, so treat them as optional. The Dark Alliance console spin-offs are separate action games and skippable.
