Pikmin games in order: every release from 2001 to the Pikmin 4 Switch 2 Edition, and where to start

Pikmin games in order: the short answer

The Pikmin games in order of release are Pikmin in 2001, Pikmin 2 in 2004, Pikmin 3 in 2013 and Pikmin 4 in 2023. Between and around them sit ports, a handful of spin-offs, and one upcoming release, Pikmin 4 Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Dandori Academy, which Nintendo lists for November 12, 2026.

You can play most of them in any order, because only the first two games share a story. This guide gives every release with its platform and date, explains how the spin-offs fit, and ends with a recommendation for where a new player should start.

The four main Pikmin games

Pikmin, created by Shigeru Miyamoto and developed by Nintendo EAD, launched on the GameCube on October 26, 2001. Pikmin 2 followed on the GameCube in 2004. Pikmin 3 came to Wii U in mid-2013, originally planned for the Wii U's launch window. All three were developed by Nintendo EAD, according to Wikipedia's Pikmin series entry, which runs from 2001 to 2013.

Pikmin 4 launched on Nintendo Switch on July 21, 2023, developed by Nintendo EPD with Eighting. Lead staff include Yuji Kando as chief and programming director, Yutaka Hiramuki on game design and as lead writer, Takashi Tezuka as the mainline series producer and Miyamoto as general producer. It is the fifth installment overall and the fourth main game.

Re-releases and ports: Wii, Switch and Switch 2

Several games have been re-released. The first two Pikmin games got New Play Control! versions on Wii around 2008 to 2009, with Pikmin 2's North American release in 2012, and Wii U Virtual Console releases in 2016. Pikmin 3 Deluxe launched on Nintendo Switch on October 30, 2020. Pikmin 1 and Pikmin 2 came to Switch in 2023, with the Eurogamer source cited by Wikipedia giving June 21, 2023.

The newest is Pikmin 4 Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Dandori Academy. Nintendo's Pikmin Day Direct page lists it for November 12, 2026, with a separate Dandori Academy upgrade pack at $9.99 for people who already own Pikmin 4 on Switch. See our Pikmin 4 Switch 2 Edition report for the details of what the pack adds.

Spin-offs: Hey! Pikmin, Pikmin Bloom and Pikmin Finder

Three spin-offs are worth knowing. Hey! Pikmin, developed by Arzest, launched on the Nintendo 3DS on July 28, 2017. Pikmin Bloom, from Niantic with Nintendo, is a mobile game for iOS and Android that launched on October 26, 2021, starting in Australia and Singapore. Pikmin Finder was a browser-based mobile AR experience released in September 2023 and discontinued on December 31, 2024.

Guides place the spin-offs differently, with some putting Hey! Pikmin before Pikmin 3 and others listing both it and Bloom between Pikmin 3 and Pikmin 4, because they fall by release date between those games. The spin-offs have no influence on the main story, so skipping them costs you nothing.

What each main Pikmin game changed

Pikmin is a real-time strategy game in which you lead a captain who commands small plant-like creatures to carry objects, build bridges and fight enemies. The first game is the strictest: it gives you a limit of 30 days to collect the ship parts. Pikmin 2 dropped that day limit, added underground caves and introduced two new types, purple and white Pikmin, and lets you switch between two leaders.

Pikmin 3 introduced rock and winged Pikmin and a team of three captains, Alph, Brittany and Charlie, and moved to Wii U. Pikmin 4 added Oatchi, a dog companion that carries Pikmin, as well as night expeditions and a rewind feature, and introduced ice and glow Pikmin. These are the headline changes as generally known; for the exact feature lists, Nintendo's own pages for each game are the primary source and we have not opened all of them.

Does the Pikmin story order matter?

Only for the first two. According to Wikipedia, Pikmin 2 takes place immediately after the events of Pikmin, so play those in sequence. Pikmin 3 is a standalone story with new leaders from Koppai, though Olimar and Louie appear later in its plot. Pikmin 4 features a new rescue-team protagonist, with Olimar and Louie also appearing later in the story.

Timeline sites we saw in search results generally match story order to release order, but one source says it is not known where Pikmin 4 fits relative to the others. The honest answer is that Nintendo has not drawn a clear line, so treat each main game as its own adventure.

How the series sells

Wikipedia lists units sold as of November 6, 2025. Pikmin sold 1.60 million on the GameCube per the CESA 2008 Games White Paper; Pikmin 2 sold 1.12 million per the same source; Pikmin 3 sold 1.27 million on Wii U (CESA 2021) and 2.40 million on Switch (CESA 2023); Hey! Pikmin 0.44 million; Pikmin Bloom 2.00 million (Eurogamer, November 21, 2021); and Pikmin 4 3.48 million, per Nintendo's financial results of May 7, 2024.

Pikmin 4 is therefore the best-selling game in the series. Pikmin 3 shows the platform effect: 1.27 million on Wii U against 2.40 million for the Switch version. Platform differences and the different dates of each source mean the numbers should not be compared one to one.

Pikmin Day and what comes next

Nintendo has declared November 1 as Pikmin Day. In its Direct posted on October 31, 2026, Shigeru Miyamoto explained that the red, blue and yellow Pikmin standing side by side look like 11.1, according to Gamereactor. Nintendo also released the first Hello! Pikmin animated short, and Pikmin Bloom is getting Secret Caves this winter.

No new Pikmin game was announced, so the Switch 2 Edition is the current end of the line. If you want a Pikmin game this year, there is no later title to wait for. For years Pikmin was the quiet corner of Nintendo's catalogue: four main games in 22 years, none of them a system seller. The Switch 2 Edition and Nintendo's decision to give the series its own annual day suggest the company sees it as a brand worth promoting. Whether that leads to a fifth game is not something Nintendo has said.

Where to start: our recommendation

Start with Pikmin 4. It is the newest, the best-selling, and the most approachable main game, and the Switch 2 Edition on November 12 is the version most players will want. If you prefer starting at the beginning, play Pikmin 1 and Pikmin 2 together on Switch, then Pikmin 3 Deluxe, then Pikmin 4.

This is our opinion, not a fact from a source. If you are unsure, the free demo of the Switch 2 Edition, reported for November 2, is the cheapest way to try the series.