Back in 2023, the beautiful and tricky card game Sea Salt & Paper captured our attention. Not only did this card game entertain us for hours, but it also included some of the most beautiful origami photography we’ve seen. This year, a new edition of Sea Salt & Paper is available and it’s packed with even more content.
Since I’ve already reviewed the Sea Salt & Paper base game, I’m going to tackle the two expansion along with an overview of what’s in the box. It’s worth noting that both expansions in this box were published separately in 2023 and 2025. If you want to read about the gameplay of the base game, check out my original review here.
Extra Salt
The Extra Salt expansion introduces eight new cards that give five new card effects. Like in the base game, players want to create duos in order to trigger special effects. These eight new cards build on the strategy of the original game with the lobster, jellyfish, starfish, seahorse, and a new scoring card for crabs.
This expansion does quite a bit with just eight cards when you add it to the base game. Something that always felt like a misstep in Sea Salt & Paper was that there wasn’t a unique card that allowed you to score for crab cards. The boats, fish, penguin, and sailors all had this card, but the crabs seem to be left out of the party. The new lobster card also increases the value of crab cards from the original game. Pair a lobster and crab duo to take the top five cards from the draw deck and choose one for your hand. The other four get shuffled back into the deck.
Starfish are interesting because they join any duo pair and adds two points to their value. But, you cannot activate their duo ability as a trade-off. The seahorse is a really versatile card that acts as a wild when counting cards that have a collection point value. This is your penguin, sailors, octopi, and seashells. When you are struggling to find another one of these cards, the seahorse steps up.
Last up, the jellyfish cards can be diabolical. Paired with a swimmer card from the base game, the jellyfish allows you to target a player, forcing their next turn to be a single card draw from the top of the draw deck. That’s it. If you know someone is planning on ending the round, this can shatter their strategy. It also gives the swimmer cards more flexibility, pairing with sharks or jellyfish cards.
Seasoned Just Right
Once you get use to the rules in the Extra Salt, it can be tough going back to the base game. This expansion adds a small amount of complexity but gives more flexibility with the card combinations. We’ve had the Extra Salt expansion prior to getting this new edition. We only take these cards out of the game if we are teaching someone Sea Salt & Paper for the first time.
The new crab scoring card feels like it should have been in the base game while the seahorse, lobster, and jellyfish all offer more flexibility. The three starfish cards lead to more points by giving up the duo abilities. This is the card that we see most people ignore. Honestly, if you’re not a fan of the duo ability, earning two additional points for the pair is pretty nice.
Extra Salt is a must for players like us who have played Sea Salt & Paper over-and-over.
A Little Pepper?
The Extra Pepper expansion was released in 2025 and brings twelve new cards that get revealed each round of the game. These cards tweak the scoring, gives some cards more importance, and even shifts the goal of the round.
When the new card is revealed, it applies to all the players at the table. For instance, the Octopi card will change the scoring for this card type for EVERYONE in the round that it was revealed. In the bottom corner of the card, there is a plus (or minus) icon that will trigger at the end of the round. The plus means that the person who wins the round will gain this card in front of them. This new scoring criteria or rule will only apply for the person holding the card. With the minus icon, the person who loses the round will gain the card.
Players can only have one of these cards in front of them at one time. When a player earns a second card, they need to decide which card to keep. Extra Pepper makes round to round decisions a lot more strategic. I really like the variety of cards included in this expansion. This is definitely not an expansion that I would introduce to newer players. Players have to be familiar enough with the gameplay to know when they should win or lose a round, gaining this new card.
Players can choose to introduce one or both of these expansions into their gameplay. Modular expansions are my favorite and knowing that we can cater gameplay to the the players at the table is excellent.
The Complete Package
So, what makes this new edition of Sea Salt & Paper special? We have owned the game since its release and the first edition of the game really suffered from a card quality issue. The cards were far too stiff and it was a struggle to shuffle without damaging the cards. Newer prints of the game remedied this issue, but there is a bit of a struggle knowing which prints of the game would work with the expansions that were released.
Sea Salt and Paper + Extra Salt and Pepper puts everything in one cohesive box at a price point that makes sense. For under $20, you get the base game with two expansions that really add to the gameplay. The card quality in the new edition is vastly improved from the first printing.
A common issue with adding expansions to previously published games is the wear of the cards and color issues on the card backs. Since everything is in one box, printed at one time, this isn’t an issue. The colors on the cards look excellent and you’ll never be able to tell which cards came from the expansion when looking at the deck.
Sea Salt & Paper is one of our go-to games when we go out to dinner. Our original game box is overflowing with cards, held together with one of my daughters hair ties. This complete box brings everything together is a box that isn’t busting at the seams. The larger box means it’s easier to find on the game shelf, but it’s a little to big to drop into a purse.
As a fan of this card game, this is a must own. I think the price point makes sense with all the content that you’re getting in the game. I have mixed feelings about the size of the box, solely because Sea Salt & Pepper is a game we commonly bring to dinner with us.
If you’ve been considering this game, Sea Salt and Paper + Extra Salt and Pepper is a fantastic purchase. Fans of the original game will really enjoy how cohesive and complete this box feels.
Sea Salt and Paper + Extra Salt and Pepper is now available at Walmart stores nationwide.
This game was provided to us by the publisher for review. Read more about our review policies at One Board Family.
Highs
- Everything you need is in one box
- Card quality and print colors are all cohesive
- Both expansions add new strategies to the base game
- New rulebook is an easy read and well laid out
Lows
- Online reviews commonly share that the game is too complex for an 8 year old
Complexity
Time Commitment
Replayability
