Icebreakers · Heart-to-heart & keepsakes
Rose, Thorn, Bud
The check-in ritual: a highlight, a hard thing, something coming.
- ~12 min
- 3–10 people
- One device, or phones
- Free
- All ages
Play Rose, Thorn, Bud now — free
What it feels like
A rose: something lovely from lately. A thorn: something hard. And a bud: something just beginning. It's a simple ritual, and it's how good friends catch up. Take your time.
How to play
- One person takes the floor at a time and answers out loud.
- Use the 60-second timer if you like. Nobody has to write anything.
- Keep any line worth remembering in the Almanac.
Scoring: No scores. Just the room, listening.
You'll get prompts like
- “Rose — a highlight since we last met”
- “Thorn — something that was hard”
What you need
3 to 10 people and one phone, tablet or laptop to pass around — or everyone on their own phone in a room. Nothing to download, no accounts. The best lines can be sealed into your group's Almanac and come back in later games.
