Pillage the Village is a 2-6 player game in which each player takes on the role of a dragon competing to build the largest hoard of gold and not get slain by the knight at game's end. Using a phase system, players act simultaneously rather than taking turns, adding chaos to the feel of play. Each player can generally perform one of three actions each round:

Pillage the village, which guarantees more gold but increases the likelihood of villagers killing your increasingly threatening self.

Steal from another dragon, which gives you a chance at taking gold from another player with the risk of raising threat.

Protect your lair, which prevents other dragons from stealing from you and lowers your threat level as the villagers didn't see you flying about.

All gold earnings are based on die rolls, and treasure cards can have rule-altering effects.