Earlier this year, fellow reviewer Jacob took a look at the set collection card game Sea Salt and Paper. Since then, it’s definitely rocketed up the hype charts, and deservedly so. In addition to having fantastic, unique artwork, the gameplay is both easy to learn and a ton of fun.
For those looking for just a little bit more out of this card game, game designers Bruno Cathala and Théo Rivière have delivered. Called Extra Salt, this mini-expansion adds just 8 cards, but still allows for some new combos.
Expansion Overview:
There are 5 new effects in total from among the 8 cards:
Crab Multiplyer: This card gives you 1 point for each crab card you have.
Jellyfish: Pairs with the swimmer from the base game and its effect forces your opponents to only draw a card on their next turn.
Lobster: Pairs with a crab. The effect allows you to draw the next 5 cards from the deck, choose one, and shuffle the rest back.
Seahorse: Can be paired with any collector set (Octopus, shell, penguin, sailor) to act as one additional card of the chosen set.
Starfish: Can be paired with any duo set to provide 2 bonus points instead of taking the special action associated with the duo.
Game Experience with the Expansion:
I’m of two minds as to whether an expansion for Sea Salt and Paper is actually needed. The game itself is pretty tight and feels like it has just the right amount of cards. But on the other hand, more variety is always nice. And apparently, the designers thought the crab cards needed a little boost, as 2 of the 5 new cards are targeted at this crustacean.
Overall though the new cards fit in well with the base game and my only gripe is the lack of a concise player aid for everyone. Everything in this expansion is printed on cards, so trying to keep everything sorted is kind of a pain. Finding which card has the rules is a matter of flipping things over until you find the right one. Hopefully, someone produces a full player aid that I can print out and store with the game.
But other than that the expansion is solid. The cards are fairly straightforward (with a couple of rules questions we had to hop online to find an answer to). But the new powers are nice and fit in well with the gameplay. I like having two options to pair the swimmer with now. And the seahorse makes set collection a tad more lucrative.
Final Thoughts:
The Extra Salt expansion for Sea Salt and Paper is bit of an odd one to review. It’s a total of 8 cards (5 powers) for about $7. The powers are all about on par with the rest of the cards in the game and, once you are past your first play, I don’t see any reason why you wouldn’t just toss these into the mix.
However, I don’t think I’d call this expansion essential, because the game plays great already and if you are missing it, you probably wouldn’t even notice. That being said, if you are getting in a lot of plays of Sea Salt and Paper, it’s an easy add for a bit more variety in the game, especially at this price point.
Hits:
• Easy to integrate in the base game
• Cards feel on par with the ones from the core
• More of the great artwork to enjoy
Misses:
• Wish there was a concise player aid for everyone
