In Villainous: Despicable Plots, each player takes control of one of three Disney characters, each one a villain in a Disney movie, specifically Lady Tremaine (Cinderella), the Horned King (The Black Cauldron), and Gaston (Beauty and the Beast). Each player has their own villain deck, fate deck, player board, and a 3D Disney character.

On a turn, players moves their character to a different location on their player board, takes one or more of the actions visible on that space (often by playing cards from their hand), then refills their hand to four cards. Cards are allies, effects, items, and conditions. You need to use your cards to fulfill your special win condition.

One of the actions lets you choose another player, draw two cards from that player's fate deck, then play one of them on that player's board, covering two of the four action spaces on one of that player's locations. The fate deck includes heroes, items, and effects from that villain's movie, and these cards allow other players to mess with that particular villain.

Villainous: Despicable Plots is playable on its own, however its characters can also face off against those in the other Disney Villainous games.