Sea Salt & Paper Review – The Origami Card Game Worth The Months Of Heartache

Even before I played Sea Salt & Paper it took me on a wild goose chase. As part of my morning ritual, I put a pot of tea on and browse the gaming forums. One morning, I read about this new card game making waves.

The rest of the day was spent scouring the internet for somewhere selling it. But, try as I might, all I found was empty shelves.

This went on for several months. I’d reach my monthly payday, then search the internet. Every time, my search ended in disappointment. It was nowhere to be found. Not in any Australian shops. Not even in American shops that ship to Australia.

Then it restocked on Pandasaurus Games.

So what you’re reading right now is not just a review. But the result of months of hope, despair and frustration. Leaving us both questioning if it was all worth it.

How to play

I’ve played with some people who roll their eyes when you say victory points. But these people are crazy. Nothing in the world is sweeter than the taste of a freshly earned victory point. This is why it’s so refreshing when a game like Sea Salt & Paper comes along and forgoes the pageantry of calling victory points something thematic.

I want victory points, so tell me how to get them!

Well… from cards.

On your turn, you choose between picking up two cards from the draw deck and keeping one. Or drafting the top card from one of the two face-up discard piles.

You’re looking to collect specific pairs or sets of cards.

Collecting two fish cards, for instance, lets you add the top card from your draw deck to your hand. Meanwhile, a pair of crabs lets you dive into one of the discard piles and grab any card you want.

There are also sets of shells, sailors, and penguins. These give you points based on how many of a set you’ve collected. One penguin only nets you 1 point, but three is worth 5.

That may not sound like a lot of points. Especially considering how hard it is to capture three penguins (isn’t that right, Kowalski?). However, in Sea Salt & Paper you only need 7 points to win a round.

Which is when the real game begins.

You see, if you’re the first person to collect 7 points, you’re then faced with a choice:

• End the round immediately and let everyone score the points they’ve collected.
• Or give everyone one final turn to beat you. In this case:
  • If no one beats your score:
    • You score all your points plus a Colour Bonus.
    • Your opponents only score their Colour Bonus.
  • If, however, someone beats your score:
    • You score only your Colour Bonus.
    • Everyone scores their cards’ points.

Colour Bonus refers to scoring points based on the colour of your cards. Again, the more you collect of a specific colour, the greater your Colour Bonus.

After the round, you check if someone’s reached the required number of victory points. If not, keep playing. Otherwise, you’ve found your winner.

But wait! There’s also one other way to win.

Mermaid cards.

By themselves, they’re powerful, giving you a Colour Bonus. But if you manage to hold all four mermaids at once. The game ends in your victory.

A wonderful twist that adds drama

When I say Sea Salt & Paper is a small game I mean it metaphorically and figuratively. I’ve left the house a couple of times now with it sitting comfortably in my pocket alongside my phone and car keys.

Gameplay-wise it’s also quite snappy.

Your turns revolve around you picking between the certainty of drawing from the top card from one of the two discard piles. Or the uncertainty of drawing two random cards from the deck.

Yet, with how the scoring works and the extra actions you get from collecting pairs, there are plenty of gripping decisions still to make.

However, it’s the end-of-round decision that truly sets Sea Salt & Paper apart from other card games. Upon winning, do you play it safe? Or risk it all for those sweet-tasting victory points?

Points in Sea Salt & Paper are hard to come by, and getting to 7 in the first place is a tough ask. Yet, when you do, it’s easy to think: if I did it, surely the other players must be close. Convincing yourself to take the safe option, before everyone reveals their cards and you find the next closest person was five points behind.

It’s a wonderful twist that adds an extra layer of drama on top of an already sharp card game.

Cut from the same cloth comes the win condition of four mermaids. Something that never happened in the 20 or so rounds I played. Yet the threat of it happening provided the same existential dread as an alien invasion. Sure, it’s unlikely to happen… but because it could happen you’re always on guard.

These smart additions make Sea Salt & Paper a gamer’s game. It’s more complex than your average card game, and as you become more familiar with it, you’re introduced to more interesting decisions.

Unfortunately, this moves it out of pick-up and play territory. Not something you can explain to your holidaying family without consistent reminders about winning, losing and Colour Bonuses.

All that is missing in Sea Salt & Paper

From the introduction, you know I was frustrated in my hunt for Sea Salt & Paper. But that frustration was a tame kitten compared to the roaring lion I felt when I found out there wasn’t any way to count your victory points.

Having tokens show everyone how many points you have and how many you need to win is a powerful visual. Seeing it so clearly puts everyone on edge as they count who’s in the lead, and work through scenarios of how they can take over.

That’s missing in Sea Salt & Paper.

Even though we kept count on my phone, that excited no one. Players were left wondering when the game was finished and had to keep asking me for point totals.

I know it’s a tiny game and there wasn’t space for the additional cardboard points. But as Scout already showed us that’s untrue, it came with cards, tokens, and everything else you need to play. Setting the standard for these types of tiny games.

By bringing up Scout for comparison, we now need to discuss how pleasant and endlessly creative the artwork is within Sea Salt & Paper. Compared to the non-existent artwork of Scout, the papercraft pictures are nothing short of delightful. Expertly crafted origami framed to fill you with joy with its bright colours and playful shapes.

It’s this art that led me to hunt the game down in the first place.

Speaking of the hunt, was it worth it?

Ultimately, I think so.

I’ve enjoyed Sea Salt & Paper enough to carry it around to several places you wouldn’t expect. All in the hopes of sneaking in a quick play. However, I imagine I had more fun with it than the people I played it with.