Sengran Kagura Burst is a side-scrolling "beat-'em-up" action game for the 3DS. The player assumes control of one of five different female ninja characters. The more the game characters are damaged by enemies, the more their clothes are torn off. The information for each character's back story, major plot points, and general information on the universe of Senran Kagura is displayed in what is called the "novel", and is structured similarly to a visual novel. The novel is introduced at major plot points in the game story.

The main gameplay consists of battling through the world of the story. As the game progresses, the player's character levels up and gains new moves and abilities, and in-game content such as art work, achievements, music, costumes (of which there are 180), and new characters are unlocked. The game is split into 5 chapters, with each chapter containing a number of main missions as well as optional missions. Once a story mission is complete, the mission can be played again with any of the unlocked characters. At the end of a mission the player is graded according to the player character's health, attack, and speed in completing the mission.