Dialog-based games are nothing new, but the new flood of AI-powered voice assistant games are in high demand and bringing in new crowds of players. Whether you are developing your next Alexa Game in-house or using an experienced studio (such as Workinman Interactive) here are some tips to help you design a more enjoyable experience for your voice assistant app.

Use Alexa Voice sparingly

As we all know, the voice of Alexa can be very monotone and robotic. So it’s no surprise that a lot of hit skills bring in professional voice talent to add more impact to the presentation. Services like Voicebunny or Voices.com are an easy way to qualify and hire the voice actor your game need at competitive rates.

If you are stuck with Alexa, keep in mind that copious amounts of dialogue may wear on the player’s ears for long period of time. Use your narration sparingly and if you’re game involves Q and A, make sure your questions are short, sweet, and to the point.

Embrace the inadequacies of the platform

Response feedback for smart assistants will never be perfect. Especially when you account for people mumbling, pronouncing words differently, giving unexpected inputs, and having different dialects. Design your game to account for a wide variety of responses and to handle bad inputs gracefully. That being said, it would be opportune time to re-educate the player on how or throw in a bit of humor to break up the tension and hide the inadequacies of the platform.

Balance music and sound effects

Since Alexa games lack visuals, it is important to add a bit of audio cues player immersion. However, it can be very easy to interrupt the dialog of the game with music and sound effects.  It’s best to add music in short spurts to grab people’s attention (think about how TV game shows, such as Jeopardy, open with an exciting and catchy tune). Occasional sound effect can help reinforce player feedback on positive and negative responses. Music and effects can also add to the feel of the game, such as playing the sounds of birds and trees in the wind in-between questions in a Nature Trivia game.

Involve as many people as possible

Voice game are so much more enjoyable with a group of players. The more players the more potential for interaction-in and outside of the Alexa skill. While adding more players, means you have to more carefully manage their turns, skill, and score, the payoff in engagement is well worth it. Take it to the next level and pit teams against each other, adding in some dialog to encourage competition, and humor to keep it fun and friendly.

Direct player feedback clearly

Sometimes it can be hard to direct players as to how they should make a response. Some players, especially those new voice assistants, require very specific instructions on how and when should speak back to the Alexa device. Let’s say you need to create prompt the as to how many players are gonna play your game. Instead of asking “What’s your name?” (as it may get a mix of first, last, and sometimes middle names, it may be helpful to just ask “What’s your first name?”