Sea Salt & Paper

To set up, shuffle all the game cards to create a single face-down draw deck, placing it within reach of all players. Then, deal one card face-up on each side of the draw deck to form two separate discard piles. Each player receives a player aid card, which summarizes card effects and end-of-round rules. Finally, randomly select a player to be the first player, and any remaining player aids are returned to the box.

The objective of Sea Salt & Paper is to accumulate the most points by the end of the game. Players achieve this by collecting cards from the draw deck and discard piles to form various combinations in their hand. These combinations grant points and allow for special actions. The game concludes when a player reaches a specific point threshold (40, 35, or 30 points for 2, 3, or 4 players respectively) or when a player collects all four mermaid cards, which results in an instant win.

A turn consists of up to three steps, starting with adding a card to your hand. You can either draw two cards from the top of the main deck, keeping one and discarding the other face-up onto either discard pile, or take the top card from either of the two face-up discard piles. After drawing, you may optionally play any duos (pairs of specific card types) from your hand face-up in front of you, resolving their immediate special effects. You can play multiple duos in a single turn. The final step is to decide whether to end the round or continue playing.

Points are earned through various card combinations. Pairs of crabs, boats, or fish each score 1 point. A shark and swimmer combination also scores 1 point. Shells score based on the total number you have (0 for one, 2 for two, 4 for three, 6 for four, 8 for five, and 10 for six). Lighthouses score 1 point per boat you have. Shoals of fish score 1 point per fish you have. Penguin colonies score 2 points per penguin you have. Captains score 3 points per sailor you have. Mermaids score points equal to the number of cards in your largest single-color group (excluding mermaids themselves). Your hand of cards is kept secret until the end of the round, so only you know your current score.

A round can end in one of three ways. If a player has 7 or more points in their hand and/or played duos, they can declare 'Stop' or 'Last Chance'. If 'Stop' is declared, all players reveal their hands and score their points. If 'Last Chance' is declared, other players each take one final turn, then reveal their hands and score. The player who called 'Last Chance' wins their bet if their score is equal to or higher than all opponents, earning their cards' points plus a color bonus (points equal to their largest color group). If they lose the bet, they only score their color bonus. Opponents score their cards' points normally. The round also ends if the draw deck is empty at the end of a player's turn; in this case, no one scores any points for that round. Rounds continue until a player reaches the game's target score (40, 35, or 30 points for 2, 3, or 4 players respectively), or if a player collects all four mermaid cards, they win the game instantly.