BioWare is a weird studio. They’ve spent decades trying to figure out if they want to make tactical simulations or high-octane action movies, and honestly, you can see that internal identity crisis just by looking at the list of dragon age games currently sitting in your Steam library. It isn't a straight line. It's more of a zig-zag.
If you’re trying to track the history of Thedas, you aren't just looking at four big releases. You’re looking at a decade and a half of experimental DLC, weird Facebook browser games that don't exist anymore, and a mobile title that was basically a digital petri dish for microtransactions. But the core? The core is where the magic happens.
Most people start with Origins. It’s the "correct" answer for purists. Released in 2009, Dragon Age: Origins was basically BioWare screaming at the top of their lungs that they still knew how to make Baldur’s Gate. It was dark. It was crunchy. It featured a silent protagonist and a combat system that let you pause every two seconds to calculate the exact trajectory of a fireball. It felt like a love letter to 90s PC gaming, even if the brown-and-grey color palette hasn't aged particularly well.
Then things got complicated.
The rapid-fire evolution of Dragon Age II
Dragon Age II is the black sheep. There's no other way to put it. Developed in a ridiculously short timeframe—roughly 14 to 16 months depending on who you ask at BioWare—it threw away the "save the world" trope. Instead, you were Hawke. You were a refugee. You were just trying to keep your family from starving in a city called Kirkwall that looked remarkably the same regardless of which dungeon you walked into.
People hated it at launch. They hated the recycled environments. They hated that you couldn't play as an Elf or a Dwarf anymore. But if you go back and play it now, there's a certain charm to its messiness. It’s a character study. It’s arguably the most "human" the list of dragon age games ever gets because the stakes are personal. You aren't fighting a god; you’re fighting a city that’s slowly losing its mind. The combat shifted too. It became fast. Explosive. It felt like an anime at times, which was a jarring pivot from the slow-motion chess match of the first game.
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Expansion or Sequel?
You can't talk about this era without mentioning Dragon Age: Awakening. It’s technically an expansion for Origins, but it’s the size of a full game. It introduced Anders and Justice, two characters who would go on to literally blow up the status quo in the sequel. If you skip Awakening, the jump from game one to game two feels like missing a whole season of a TV show.
When the list of dragon age games went open world
By the time 2014 rolled around, the industry had "Skyrim fever." Every developer wanted massive maps and a thousand icons to click on. BioWare responded with Dragon Age: Inquisition. It was a behemoth. It won Game of the Year, which is something people seem to forget now that it’s fashionable to complain about the "Hinterlands."
The Hinterlands is the first major area in Inquisition, and it’s a trap. It’s a giant, sprawling map filled with fetch quests that don't matter. Thousands of players spent twenty hours picking flowers and killing rams before realizing they were allowed to leave and actually play the main story.
Inquisition tried to bridge the gap between the first two games. It brought back the tactical camera but kept the action-focused movement. It introduced the "Keep," a web-based tool because the move to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One meant your old save files were basically useless. It was an ambitious, beautiful, flawed masterpiece that finally gave us a glimpse of the wider world outside of Ferelden and Kirkwall.
The DLC that changed the ending
If you finished Inquisition and didn't play the Trespasser DLC, you didn't actually finish the game. It’s one of those weird BioWare decisions where the "true" ending is sold separately. Trespasser is vital. It sets up the entire conflict for the next decade of the franchise. It transforms one of your closest allies into the series' primary antagonist. Without it, the list of dragon age games feels like it's missing its most important bridge.
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The long wait for The Veilguard
The gap between Inquisition (2014) and Dragon Age: The Veilguard (2024) was brutal. Ten years. For context, the entire original Mass Effect trilogy was released in a five-year span. The Veilguard—originally rumored to be a live-service multiplayer game codenamed Joplin—went through hell and back during development.
What we finally got was a total departure. It’s almost entirely an action-RPG now. No more controlling your companions directly in combat. It’s stylized. It’s colorful. It focuses heavily on the Tevinter Imperium, a place fans have wanted to visit since 2009. While The Veilguard might alienate the hardcore strategy fans who grew up on Origins, it's the most polished the series has ever been. It’s BioWare trying to find a new identity in a post-Witcher 3 and post-Baldur’s Gate 3 world.
The bits and pieces you probably missed
There’s more to the list of dragon age games than just the big four. Most people haven't touched the spin-offs, and honestly, you might be better off for it, but they exist.
- Heroes of Dragon Age: A mobile battler. It was all about collecting "units" and watching them fight. It didn't add much to the lore, but it was a fun time-waster for a while.
- Dragon Age Legends: A Facebook game. Yeah, remember those? It was surprisingly decent for what it was, but it's basically digital archeology at this point.
- Dragon Age Journeys: A Flash-based browser game. It was supposed to be a trilogy, but only the first chapter ever came out. It actually had some cool tactical combat.
If you’re a lore nerd, you’ve probably also looked at the comics and the Netflix show, Dragon Age: Absolution. They aren't "games," but in the BioWare ecosystem, everything is canon. The show, in particular, gives a lot of context to how magic works in Tevinter, which becomes huge in The Veilguard.
Why the order matters
You can’t just jump in anywhere. Well, you can, but you’ll be confused. If you start with The Veilguard, you’ll see a bald elf and wonder why everyone is crying about him. If you start with Origins, you might be put off by the clunky animations and the fact that everyone looks like they’re covered in shiny jam when they get into a fight.
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The best way to experience the list of dragon age games is chronologically.
- Dragon Age: Origins (and the Awakening expansion)
- Dragon Age II (make sure to play the Legacy DLC)
- Dragon Age: Inquisition (the Trespasser DLC is mandatory)
- Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Each game reflects the era it was made in. Origins is the gritty late-2000s RPG. Dragon Age II is the experimental, rushed mid-tier sequel. Inquisition is the "too big for its own good" open-world epic. The Veilguard is the modern, character-focused action-adventure.
BioWare never sticks to a formula. That’s what makes this list so frustrating but also why people are still talking about it fifteen years later. They take risks. Sometimes those risks involve making you pick 500 shards in a desert, and sometimes they involve writing some of the best character arcs in the history of the medium.
Actionable steps for your first (or next) playthrough
If you're looking to dive into the series now, don't just hit "New Game" and wing it. The experience is much better if you use the external tools BioWare built to keep the story straight.
- Use the Dragon Age Keep: Before starting Inquisition, go to the official website. You can manually input all your choices from the first two games. This ensures the world you play in reflects who you killed, who you married, and who you put on the throne.
- Don't clear the maps: In Inquisition, if you try to finish every side quest in an area before moving on, you will burn out. Focus on the "Inquisition Path" quests.
- Read the codex entries: BioWare hides the best world-building in the text files. If you find a note in a dusty basement, read it. It usually explains why the ghost trying to kill you is so angry.
- Play the DLC: This can't be stressed enough. Legacy for DA2 and Trespasser for Inquisition are not "optional" if you care about the plot. They are the actual endings of those games.