Sea Salt & Paper Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• COMPONENTS
• GAME SETUP
• GAME OBJECTIVE
• GAME TURN
• END OF THE ROUND
• END OF GAME
• CARD DETAILS
  • Duo cards
  • Mermaid cards (x4)
  • Collector cards
  • Point Multiplier cards

COMPONENTS

58 cards, 6 game aids, a rulebook.

GAME SETUP

1. Keep the game aids available.
2. Shuffle the cards into a deck, placed facedown within easy reach.
3. Reveal the first two cards and place them faceup next to the deck to form two discard piles.
4. Choose the first player at random.

GAME OBJECTIVE

The game is played in rounds until one player reaches the required number of points for victory (see End of Game). To win points, you must carefully choose the cards you take and use their effects wisely. Catching your opponents off guard could also be a good strategy.

GAME TURN

Players take turns playing clockwise. During a turn, a player performs the following steps:

1. They must add a card to their hand in one of two ways:
   • EITHER they take the first two cards from the deck, add one to their hand and discard the second faceup on the discard pile of their choice (if a discard pile is empty, they have no choice but to put their card there),
   • OR they take the card on top of one of the two discard piles.
     Important: It is not possible to look through the discard piles.
2. Duo cards can be played Duo cards can be played in pairs to trigger their effect (see Card Details). To do so, the player places the cards faceup in front of them and applies the effect. A player can trigger more than one effect during their turn.
3. The round can be ended If the player has reached 7 points or more by counting the points on their cards, both in their hand and in front of them (see Card Details), they can decide to end the round. If not, it is the turn of the player to their left.

END OF THE ROUND

When a player triggers the end of the round, they reveal their hand of cards and must announce STOP or LAST CHANCE.

• They say STOP if they do not want to take a risk. All players reveal their hands and immediately score the points on their cards (in their hand and in front of them).
• They say LAST CHANCE if they are willing to take the bet of having the most points at the end of the round. The other players each take a final turn (take a card + play cards) which they complete by revealing their hand, which is now protected from attacks. Then, all players count the points on their cards (in their hand and in front of them).
  • If the triggering player’s hand is higher or equal to that of their opponents, bet won! They score the points for their cards + the color bonus (1 point per card of the color they have the most of). Their opponents only score their color bonus.
  • If their score is less than that of at least one opponent, bet lost! They score only the color bonus. Their opponents score points for their cards. Special case: If the deck is empty at the end of a player’s turn, the round ends immediately without scoring.

The points scored are added to those from the previous rounds. If no one has reached or exceeded the number of points required for victory, a new round starts: All cards the cards are shuffled, and the deck and discard piles are reformed. The player to the left of the one who ended the previous round starts.

END OF GAME

If a player places all 4 mermaids, they immediately win the game. Otherwise, the game ends as soon as one player reaches or exceeds the required number of victory points:

• 2 / 3 / 4 players: 40 / 35 / 30 points

The player with the most points wins the game. In case of a tie, the one who went last in the last round wins.

CARD DETAILS

Important: When it is said that the player counts or scores the points on their cards, it means both those in their hand and those in front of them.

Duo cards

1 point for each pair of crab cards. (x9) Effect: The player chooses a discard pile, consults it without shuffling it, and chooses a card from it to add to their hand. They do not have to show it to the other players.

1 point for each pair of boat cards. (x8) Effect: The player immediately takes another turn.

1 point for each pair of fish cards. (x7) Effect: The player adds the top card from the deck to their hand.

1 point for each combination of swimmer and shark cards. Effect: The player steals a random card from another player and adds it to their hand.

Note: The points for duo cards count whether the cards have been played or not. However, the effect is only applied when the player places the two cards in front of them.

Mermaid cards (x4)

1 point for each card of the color the player has the most of. If they have more mermaid cards, they must look at which of the other colors they have more of. The same color cannot be counted for more than one mermaid card. Effect: If they place 4 mermaid cards, the player immediately wins the game.

Collector cards

0, 2, 4, 6, 8, or 10 points depending on whether the player has 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 shell cards. (x6)

0, 3, 6, 9, or 12 points depending on whether the player has 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 octopus cards. (x5)

1, 3, or 5 points depending on whether the player has 1, 2, or 3 penguin cards. (x3)

0 or 5 points depending on whether the player has 1 or 2 sailor cards. (x2)

Point Multiplier cards

The lighthouse (x1) 1 point per boat card. This card does not count as a boat card.

The shoal of fish (x1) 1 point per fish card. This card does not count as a fish card.

The penguin colony (x1) 2 points per penguin card. This card does not count as a penguin card.

The captain (x1) 3 points for each sailor card. This card does not count as a sailor card.

Note: The number of elements represented in a photo may vary. This has no effect on play.