The friendship that hasn’t quite taken root

You met someone and liked them — on a course, at work, on a trip, in a city you’ve just moved to. Numbers swapped with real intent.

And now it’s been three weeks of “we should do something,” because there’s nothing obvious to do and it feels too early to just ring them. New friendships rarely die of indifference. They die of vagueness.

A game is a specific thing to propose. Ten minutes, over video, nothing to plan.

“Isn’t it too soon for something like this?”

It’s lighter than it sounds. Nothing asks either of you to be deep on cue — it’s turns, a few minutes, and a host that keeps it moving. What it does skip is the several months of surface conversation it usually takes to get anywhere.

Start with

The invite

The hardest part is asking. Here are the words — send them as they are.

“I liked talking to you the other day. There’s this ten-minute game you play over video — want to try it next week?”

Questions

We barely know each other. Will it be awkward?

Less than the small talk it replaces. The host runs it, so neither of you has to carry it.

What if they say no?

It’s a game — there’s nothing to explain and nothing lost.

Does it work if we live in different places now?

That’s the usual case. It’s built for it.

Also for