The speaker draws an Opening card — a question, visible to everyone — and rolls two dice.

• The Ground names what the metaphor is about: loss, longing, hunger, belonging, joy, love, fear, wonder.

• The Thread names how it moves: weight, voice, sound, breath, edge, texture, distance, root.

The speaker holds these for a moment, then speaks a metaphor, a word, or a story. Whatever the speaker finds in the space between the dice and the question.

The other players hold a hand of fragments — cards each carrying a single piece: a line of poetry, a passage of prose, an image of a painting. After the speaker has spoken, each player lays one fragment face-up on the table, silently. No commentary. The fragments are offered, not explained.

The speaker reads the fragments. Sits with them. Then chooses the one that landed closest, and says why. The player who laid it can speak to why they offered it, if they want to. The fragment goes to the speaker as a keepsake — visible at their place, not played again.

The game continues with a new speaker. Once each player has five fragments in front of them, the game ends. Your fragments speak to how you were seen.