Sea Salt & Paper is one of my favorite small card games. Not only does it have beautiful and unique art, but the gameplay is a very nice balance of strategy and luck that works well for me. I added the Extra Salt expansion to my copy when it came out and always play with that.
Yet, I was slightly apprehensive about adding another expansion, worried that it might take the game into “slightly too complex for what it is” territory. Plus, there’s already some lid lift on my adorably tiny box; how was I ever going to fit another expansion!? But, I mean, come on, I wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to try it out anyway! Were my fears realized, or was I pleasantly surprised? Let’s discuss!
Expansion Overview:
Sea Salt & Paper: Extra Pepper is a mini expansion for Sea Salt & Paper that adds a deck of 12 event cards to the game.
The deck is shuffled separately from the main deck and set nearby. At the start of each round, the top card of this deck is revealed, and the special rule on it will apply to all players for that round.
There are two types of event cards: some depict a trophy with a “+” symbol, and others a trophy with a “-” symbol. At the end of the round, after scoring, the event card from that round is given to one of the players: if it has the plus symbol, it goes to the player who has the most points at that time; if it has the minus symbol, it goes to the player who currently has the fewest points.
The rule on that card will then apply only to that player for as many rounds as that player remains in the same position (first or last, depending on the card). If a player no longer meets the requirement, the card is discarded. If a player receives more than one special rule card, they must discard one of them, as they can only have one at a time.
Game Experience with the Expansion:
I was absolutely pleasantly surprised with this expansion! These 12 simple cards spice up the game just enough without overdoing it. The cards have both negative and positive effects, with the positive effects going to players who are behind, and the negative effects to the ones who are in the lead, so it is a nice balancing mechanism. At the same time, the negative conditions are not overly frustrating, still leaving enough room to work around them. The abilities are all interesting and will shape how a round is played. I especially like this as I am a player who can fall into comfortable ruts, but this forces me to branch out!
Some of the special rules you’ll encounter in this expansion are:
- The Kraken – Each octopus card scores only 1 point (instead of the normal value)
- The Dance of the Mermaids – If 3 mermaids are played, the player immediately wins the game. (This led to my first mermaid victory in this game, as I’ve never been able to get all four before!)
- The Angelfish – At the end of a player’s turn, if the two visible cards on the discard piles are the same color, that player adds one of them to their hand.
There are also abilities that allow for new ways to use the sharks and swimmers (my personal least favorite combo in the main game, but this changes it up a bit) and events that restrict when and how a player can end the round.
This expansion did not seem to significantly affect play time, though maybe it was a bit shorter with it. And it’s super easy to add it into the game as it’s a separate deck on the side. While it might not be the best choice for people brand new to the game, I think anyone who has some experience with it could appreciate the slight changes this brings to the table. I will say some of the rules as described in the book are a little vague, and I had to do a little digging on BGG to understand exactly what was meant, but that’s about the only negative I have.
Final Thoughts:
As I said above, I was really happy with the tweaks the Extra Pepper expansion introduces to the game! In fact, I think it’s my new favorite way to play. And, while I can no longer fit all of the cards in the main box, I don’t mind keeping these separate since they’re not shuffled into the main deck like the Salt expansion is. In short, this is just a small set of event cards that adds simple but brilliant rules tweaks. It will encourage players to change things up round-to-round and help to balance the game out. If you are a fan of Sea Salt and Paper, then I definitely recommend adding a pinch of pepper next time you play!
Hits:
• Super easy to add to the base game
• Nudges you to explore different strategies
• Helps balance the game
Misses:
• Some of the rule changes aren’t clearly explained
• Both expansions don’t fit well in the base box
