Pass the Stones! – A Gallbladder-Themed Party Game Review Review by Lake Leafty and Lady Leaf and a couple of our kids.

Pass the Stones is the hot new party game where players must remove gallstones from their gallbladder, while filling their opponents’ gallbladders to CERTAIN CHOLECYSTECTOMY. ACT FAST.

The last gallbladder remaining wins!

After playing OrganATTACK!, we were excited to get another game from The Awkward Yeti to the table. Pass the Stones! immediately caught our attention because, much like OrganATTACK!, it takes something most people probably wouldn’t expect to become a board game—gallstones—and somehow turns it into a surprisingly fun party game.

For our family, the subject matter also hits particularly close to home. We’ve dealt with quite a few health issues ourselves, including my own experience of having my appendix removed one week and my gallbladder the following week. We’ve also had plenty of digestive-health issues throughout our family, so a game centered around gallbladders and stones was definitely something we were curious to try.

Pass the Stones! is a relatively simple game to learn.

Each player chooses a gallbladder, with each character having an optional unique ability. These abilities can be left out for more casual games, which I actually really like. It gives players the option to introduce another layer of strategy once they’re comfortable with the basic game.

Players begin with seven PASS cards. On your turn, you can play cards from your hand, exchange two cards, or simply pass.

Some PASS cards feature a lightning-bolt symbol, allowing them to be played out of turn without counting as an action. This adds some fun opportunities to disrupt what another player is trying to accomplish.

At the beginning of every turn, a STONE card is revealed. Whatever is shown on that card affects all players. Depending on the card, players may gain or lose stones.

Then there are the BILE cards.

When BILE appears, things can get a little chaotic as everyone gets an opportunity to quickly play matching pairs of BILIRUBIN cards to add stones to another player’s gallbladder.

Players can also play sets of FIBER cards to remove stones. And if you have an extra FIBER card, you can even use it to remove stones out of turn.

The basic goal is pretty straightforward: don’t let your gallbladder accumulate too many stones.

If you end up with too many and can’t get rid of them, you’re eliminated.

And, of course, The Awkward Yeti encourages you to yell “CHOLECYSTECTOMY!” when you defeat another player.

Whether you’ll pronounce that correctly is between you and your gallbladder.

For me, Pass the Stones! was a really enjoyable game.

One of the things I appreciated most was just how easy it was to get into. After going through the rules, we were able to start playing without spending a huge amount of time trying to figure out complicated interactions.

One question did come up during our games that we weren’t completely sure how to resolve. When the Super Bile card is showing, can someone play one of the cards that can normally be played at any time, similar to what happens with the regular BILE card? We weren’t able to determine the answer, but aside from that one question, the game was very straightforward to learn.

The character abilities are another nice touch. Unfortunately, we didn’t use them during our first game, and I really wish we had. They add another little bit of personality and strategy to the characters, and I think they would have made an already enjoyable game even more interesting.

The components are also excellent. The cards feel like they’re built to withstand plenty of gameplay, and the little stones themselves are a particularly fun component. I wouldn’t recommend leaving them lying around where younger kids might be tempted to put them in their mouths, though. They’re small enough that I could definitely see a child trying to swallow one—and I’m not entirely sure what the outcome of that would be. Of course, if they did end up with a kidney stone, at least they’d probably be able to find it pretty easily on an X-ray & not have to have 2 organs removed as I did. 😂

The character artwork is also a lot of fun and fits The Awkward Yeti style really well.

One thing I did notice is that, while Pass the Stones! is certainly built around anatomy and health, I didn’t feel like the components taught me quite as much about the body’s systems as OrganATTACK! did. That’s not necessarily a criticism, because Pass the Stones! is clearly going for a more straightforward party-game experience, but if you’re specifically looking for the educational aspect, I think OrganATTACK! has the edge.

Overall, though, there really isn’t much to complain about. It’s a fun, relatively simple game that doesn’t require a huge amount of explanation before you can start playing, and the humor makes it a memorable experience.

For me, it’s probably second only to OrganATTACK! among the games we’ve played from The Awkward Yeti so far.

I’m also looking forward to trying Anxiety ATTACK! next, which is currently sitting in our stack of games waiting to hit the table.

And honestly, if the creator hadn’t sent us a copy to play, Pass the Stones! is definitely a game I would consider pre-ordering myself.

I have to admit that when Lake first told me we were going to be playing a game about gallstones, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.

Then again, with a name like The Awkward Yeti,I probably should have figured as much.

What I really enjoyed about Pass the Stones! was how quickly we were able to start playing. The rules weren’t overwhelming, and once we understood what the different cards did, the game moved along pretty smoothly.

I also liked that the gallbladder characters each have their own ability. We didn’t use those abilities during our first game, but I think they could make the games more interesting once everyone knows the basic rules.

The stones are probably my favorite part of the components. They’re shiny, they’re fun to handle, and they make the whole idea of trying to avoid getting too many stones into your gallbladder much more entertaining.

The artwork is also really fun. The characters have a lot of personality, and the humor throughout the game feels very much like one might expect from a name like The Awkward Yeti.

I think this would be a fun game for families or groups who like games that don’t take forever to explain or play. It’s silly, but there’s still enough going on that you’re paying attention to what everyone else is doing.

I also liked that the game gives you opportunities to affect the other players. You’re not just sitting there worrying about your own gallbladder—you have to pay attention to what everyone else is doing too.

I would definitely play Pass the Stones! again, and I’m curious to see what we think of the other games we’ve received from The Awkward Yeti.

Pass the Stones! manages to take a subject that probably isn’t discussed very often around the game table and turn it into a surprisingly entertaining party game.

It’s easy to learn, the components are excellent, the artwork is fun, and the combination of stones, bile, bilirubin, and gallbladder abilities gives players plenty to laugh about while still providing some meaningful choices.

While I personally preferred OrganATTACK! because of its stronger educational component, Pass the Stones! succeeds at what it appears designed to do: give players a fast, accessible, ridiculous game that they can get to the table without a lot of fuss.

And honestly, any game that gives you an excuse to yell “CHOLECYSTECTOMY!” after eliminating another player is going to be memorable.