Sea Salt & Paper is a unique and beautiful card game that is equal parts luck, skill, and brinksmanship. I recently became hooked on this game and found that there wasn’t a whole lot of information to be found about strategy and how to win. I have developed my own Sea Salt & Paper strategies and studied the habits of top players to improve, so I thought I’d pass my learnings along.
The best Sea Salt & Paper strategies are to prioritize collecting effect cards, end the round as soon as possible in most cases, and keep a diverse hand to trigger more effects. Other strategies include using Crabs to find multiplier cards and denying your opponents the cards they’re looking for.
There is quite a bit of luck involved in Sea Salt & Paper, but there is definitely more than enough strategy to allow better players to win more often over many plays of the game. Each game plays out differently, but if you utilize all of the strategy tips below you’ll definitely see your overall game improve. I’ll go into how and why these strategies work so that you can use them in your own games and win more often. You can also check out my YouTube video where I play through some example games and explain my thought processes based on the tips below.
Prioritize drawing more powerful cards
The balance and variety of cards in Sea Salt & Paper is what makes the game so fun, but not all of the cards are created equal. You have to know which cards are the most powerful and likely to give you an advantage. At the beginning of a hand (and usually throughout the entire hand) you should prioritize collecting these cards over others.
In my experience, I have found that, in general, the most effective cards are:
- Shark & Swimmer
- Boats
- Mermaids
- Crabs
Different combinations and play styles will obviously make this list pretty loose, but at the beginning of the game those are the cards I’m prioritizing. Looking at the habits of top-rated Sea Salt & Paper players (taken from boardgamearena.com), this bears out.
| Statistic | #1 Rated Player | #2 Rated Player | Average Player |
|---|---|---|---|
| Played Duo Cards | 10.44 | 10.38 | 8.95 |
| Played Crab Cards | 3.11 | 2.79 | 1.89 |
| Played Swim/Shark Cards | 3.18 | 3.24 | 2.54 |
| Played Boat Cards | 2.68 | 2.68 | 2.6 |
| Collector Cards collected | 10.18 | 9.79 | 12.65 |
We can see in the data that the best players play significantly more Duo cards than the average player, and they place particular emphasis on Swimmer/Shark Cards and Crab Cards. These cards clearly give them a strategic advantage and we should try to do the same!
The Shark & Swimmer are, in my opinion, the best combo in the game because they result in a 2-card swing between you and your opponent. You gain a card while they lose one, and the chances that they were relying on that card you stole are very high. Overall card count is one of the strongest predictors of who will win a hand, so the more cards you have vs your opponent, the better.
Boats are similarly powerful because, when played, they let you have an entirely new turn. This gives you an additional card and the opportunity to play more cards Duo to trigger another effect.
Mermaids have the potential to be very powerful but are more circumstantial. They give you a lot of flexibility by letting you collect cards of a single color to build up your points. They aren’t particularly useful if your hand is currently full of cards of different colors.
Crabs have the potential to be complete game-changing cards when played Duo. They let you look through a discard pile for powerful cards like Multipliers to quickly score a lot of points. At the very least, when you play them they allow you to add another card to your hand.
Know the distribution of cards in the deck
I was surprised to learn that the distribution of cards in Sea Salt & Paper is quite imbalanced, and this is information that you need to file away if you want to improve. The number of each type of card is printed on the bottom right corner of each card, but the color distribution is not.
The game comes with an informational card that tells you how many of each color are in the deck, but most inexperienced players either never see this or ignore it entirely. The number of cards per color in Sea Salt & Paper is:
| Card Color | # of Cards |
|---|---|
| Dark Blue | 9 |
| Light Blue | 9 |
| Black | 8 |
| Yellow | 8 |
| Light Green | 6 |
| White | 4 |
| Purple | 4 |
| Light Grey | 4 |
| Light Orange | 3 |
| Light Pink | 2 |
| Orange | 1 |
Knowing this, you can prioritize which color of cards you keep for potential color bonuses at the end of a round. For example, if you draw two Crab Cards (one Light Blue and one Light Grey) from the draw pile, you should probably keep the Light Blue one because there is a much higher probability that you’ll collect more Light Blue cards throughout the round.
Build a diverse hand for more action
In general, you should try to keep your hand flexible so that you have a variety of choices and effects to trigger. This means collecting Sharks/Swimmers, Crabs, Boats, and Fish instead of Collector Cards like Shells and Octopi.
Even if you can’t play them right away, having these cards in your hand is very powerful. If you manage to trigger an effect that lets you draw another card there’s a good chance that the card you pick up will let you play another effect.
Duo cards are, in general, much more powerful than collector cards because of the sheer number of cards you build up in your hand. I would only recommend keeping a Collector Card if you have no other choice, and the data from top-rated players seems to agree with this (see the table above).
End the round when you hit 7 points
For most players, especially new ones, I would recommend ending the round (announcing ‘STOP’) as soon as they get the requisite 7 points. This is the most surefire way to bank points for yourself and is rarely disastrous. Delaying the end of the round usually just results in giving your opponents more time to build up their hand. As you become more experienced you will gain a feel for how and when to announce ‘Last Chance’ instead of ‘STOP’. Which brings me to…
Give ‘Last Chance’ if you have lots of one color
The benefit of declaring ‘Last Chance’ is that you have the potential to score your color bonus (1 point for each card you have the most color of) while limiting your opponents to only their color bonus. However, the risk is large because if you don’t have the most points after the other players finish their turns you only score your color multiplier.
In general, you should only declare ‘Last Chance’ if you have a lot of cards in a single color AND you have scored a lot of points very quickly. This tips the scales in your favor if and when you win because you get a larger color bonus, and mitigates the damage if you lose because you still get your color bonus.
If you let the round go on too long then there are many more possibilities for your opponents to score a lot of points on their final turn, causing you to lose. Only declare ‘Last Chance’ when you are very confident that your opponents can’t outscore you!
Remember where powerful cards are discarded
There are certain cards that have the potential to swing a hand very quickly, and it’s important that you remember where these cards are located if they are ever discarded. Multiplier cards (Captain, Penguin Colony, Shoal of Fish, and Lighthouse) can turn a mediocre hand into an unbeatable one if you also have the cards to which they apply.
Normally, these multiplier cards are not worth having in your hand by themselves. It’s common to see them discarded because they don’t have any value by themselves. However, if you have collected several cards of a particular type then their corresponding Multiplier Card becomes extremely valuable. For example, if you’ve collected 4 Boats then the Lighthouse would suddenly grant you 4 additional points.
Use Crab cards to find multiplier cards
The way you access those discarded Multiplier Cards is with Crab Cards. Crab cards are some of the sneakiest and most fun-to-play cards in Sea Salt & Paper because they have the power to resurrect a card from the dead and grant you a lot of points in one turn.
CHECK IT OUT: If you like Sea Salt & Paper you’re sure to enjoy Sushi Go!, another fun and fast box card game with unique artwork. You can get Sushi Go! here from Amazon.
Having even a single Crab Card in your hand has the potential to swing a game. If your opponent discards a Crab, you can pick it up and then play the pair Duo in order to go digging for a Multiplier Card that can win you the hand.
Draw from the face-down pile more often
Sea Salt & Paper is, among other things, a game of information control. Every time you draw a card from a discard pile your opponent will know what card you’ve added to you hand which gives them a significant advantage. Taking from the face-down pile obfuscates your plans because your opponent has no idea what card you may have drawn.
In addition to hiding your plans, you also get to discard the other card and cover a card that you think your opponent might be after. Which leads right into…
Deny important cards to your opponent
Don’t think only about your hand – you should also look to spoil your opponent’s hand! Denying important cards to your opponent can be just as (or more) important than building your own. This is especially true in two-player games, where every point you deny your opponent is just as good as one you score for yourself.
Look at the cards your opponent is drawing. If you notice that they pick up a Sailor Card and you draw a Sailor Card on the next turn from the draw pile, you should definitely keep it. If you discarded it, your opponent would have 5 instant points. However, by keeping it you deny them those points but you are also armed with the knowledge that they have the other one, giving you the chance to steal it!
Similarly, if you’ve seen your opponent draw a Shark card then you can be sure they’d like to draw a Swimmer to go with it. If a Swimmer is showing on one of the discard piles then when you discard you should cover it with another card.
Another tactic you can use is to try to steal important cards even after your opponent has added them to their hand. You might know that they have a strong combo (3 Penguins or 2 Sailors, for example), but stealing one of them would be a big hit to their score.
Limit your opponent’s options on discard piles
If you notice that a card has remained on top of a discard pile for a couple of turns then that likely means your opponent doesn’t want it. Use this to your advantage by discarding on the other pile every chance you get. This limits their desirable options to drawing from 1 discard pile or drawing 2 cards from the face-down pile.
Attack the player who is currently leading
A game of Sea Salt & Paper doesn’t end until a player crosses the agreed-upon point total, so if you’re currently losing then it’s in your best interest to prevent the currently leading player from adding to their score. This gives you more chances to claw your way back into the game.
The best way to attack a leading player is with Shark & Swimmer Duos. Take as many cards from their hand as possible! Hopefully, the other players around the table do the same thing and make it very difficult for the leader to add to their lead.
Take guaranteed points when you’re winning
Speaking of leading players, hopefully that’s you! If you find yourself in the lead then it’s usually best to bank points as quickly as possible to add to your score and end the game as quickly as possible. Other players will be targeting you and trying to steal your cards, so it’s generally best not to hold on to Duo cards – just play them as soon as possible.
You should also just declare ‘STOP’ every time you’re in the lead and approaching a win. Even if other players have scored more than you, you’re still getting closer to ending the game and it’s unlikely that they’ve scored too many more points than you have on this round.
Take more risks when you’re behind
The flip side of this coin is that you should be willing and eager to take more risks when you’re behind in the game. Try to rack up as many points as possible and don’t be afraid to declare ‘Last Chance’ if it makes sense. This can give you the chance you need to make up serious ground on the leader, and since you’re already losing there really isn’t much else to lose.
Let the color of the cards be the tie-breaker
Sometimes you’ll end up drawing two of the same type of card (2 Shells, for example) from the face-down pile. In these cases, the color of the cards is the only real difference. Choose the card with the color you have the most of and/or is more likely to be drawn later in the game.
Consult the chart earlier in this article for specific color counts, but Dark Blue, Light Blue, Yellow, and Black cards are the most abundant. Collecting more cards of the same color gives you the opportunity to score a bigger color bonus at the end of a round.
Thanks for reading! If I missed something or you have your own opinions, please drop a comment below.
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