Sea Salt and Paper: Extra Salt Expansion Review

boardgamequest.com:

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.

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.

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.