This game features beautiful pictures of origami artwork of fish, shells, boats, crabs and mermaids. Incidentally, these are also the cards players will collect to score points to win, but collecting these cards is not always easy.
In the middle between the players is a draw pile and not one, but two discard piles! During a turn, you may take the top card from one of discard piles in hand or you may take two cards from the draw pile, keeping one in hand and placing the other on one of the discard piles. There are basically two types of cards: action cards and cards that will hopefully earn you quite a few points. From both types of cards you try to make sets, but work slightly differently.
If you have matching action cards (for example, two crabs or, say, a shark and a swimmer) you may place the cards face up in front of you. This set earns a single point at the end of the round, but you may perform an action after you have played the set that can help you greatly to get extra or the right cards.
Other cards earn points at the end of the round depending on how many cards are in a set. Some cards earn points depending on which other cards you have accumulated. For mermaids, you also receive points for the color of which you have the most cards, and remember: if you manage to collect four mermaids during a round, you have won immediately. Players can end the round as soon as they have at least 7 points. Players add up the points they earned during a round along with previous rounds. If a player has earned enough points, the game is ended and the player with the most points wins.
Sea Salt & Paper not only has a great title and brilliant artwork, but is also a brilliant little card game. Sea Salt & Paper (and minor spoilers: also Pixies the upcoming game from Gam’inBIZ) is one of those games where they never cease to amaze you what is possible with a simple stack of cards and a small rulebook. The simple gameplay offers enough depth and combines elements of the classic Gin Rummy, where you have to collect cards in your hand, along with some unique actions to pack a big punch with a small pack.
