

In addition to the sets, there are multipliers that increase the value of fish, boats, penguins, and sailors. There are four different sets a player may also collect: shells, octopi, penguins, and sailors. The shark and swimmer pair is the only unmatched pair, but it is powerful in that it allows you to steal a card from an opponent.īefore we get to that, a quick note on the other cards. After they’ve done this, they may play another matched pair if they have one, end their turn, or, if they’ve got seven or more points, attempt to end the round in one of two ways.
#BOARD CARD GAMES FREE#
These pairs each give the player one point visible to other players (most of their point total is kept secret), and also gives them a one-time free ability. After that, the player may choose to play a matched pair in front of them into their tableau.

Alternatively, the player may simply take one of the face-up cards off the top of one of the piles. A player may draw two cards from the deck, select one, and discard the other to one of the two piles. The deck also contains four powerful Mermaid cards which allow you to score points equal to the number of cards in your most copious color.Įach round begins with no cards in the players’ hands, the deck in the center of the table, and two discard piles. The game consists of 3 primary point-scoring mechanisms: playing unique matching pairs that each provide an additional bonus action, collecting sets, and potentially boosting card values with multipliers.

Each card is also one of eleven different colors. The deck is populated by a variety of maritime-oriented iconography: fish, squids, shells, boats, sharks, crabs, swimmers, sailors, etc. Sea Salt & Paper is a relatively simple hand management/set collection game on… ahem, paper. Did I mention it has the best art I’ve seen in ages? Gameplay Overview: I’m glad I did, because I found a simple new pocket-sized card game I take with me when I travel and plays well for 2-4 people in about 30 minutes. This tiny box had the words, Sea Salt & Paper, Bruno Cathala, and Théo Rivière printed on it, along with some of the most undeniably adorable artwork I’d seen all day, so I said “bonjour” and I sat down for a quick teach. A couple of very nice Frenchman were sitting there with a very small box and a fresh steaming batch of croissants (ok, maybe they didn’t have croissants). As I was walking through the 2022 Gen Con convention hall, a modest little table caught my eye, set up for French publisher Bombyx.
