Disney Villainous: Introduction to Evil uses the same gameplay as Disney Villainous with four villains instead of six: Maleficent, Captain Hook, Ursula and Prince John. It is a streamlined version designed to help first-time players.

Each player controls a villain with their own villain deck, fate deck, player board and 3D character. On a turn, you move your character to a different location on your player board and take one or more of the actions shown there, often by playing cards from your hand, then refill your hand to four cards. Cards are allies, items, effects, conditions and, for some characters, curses.

Players use their cards to fulfil a unique win condition, which sometimes involves overcoming the hero from their villain's film.