Cylinder Says

Inspiration

I was thinking about how to get my three kids some physical activity while it's been cold outside. So I thought what better way than a Cylinder Says game that never ends or gets tired. Just like my 3 wiggly kids

What it does

Start it up and follow the instructions, just make sure you only do what it says after saying "Cylinder Says" or your out! :-) The phrases are randomized so no two games are the same!

How I built it

I built this using ASK and AWS Lambda. It took a while to get it just right and to figure out what I was doing but I'm pretty proud of it and am excited to see if anyone else likes it.

Challenges I ran into

I have some programming experience and had built another submission for this competition (Let's Be Friends) but didn't have much experience making Alexa Skills. I think the hardest part was learning a new syntax and trying to apply what I already knew to make something. I had a hard time figuring out a way to get the timing right but once I discovered SSML the documentation helped a lot!

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

I'm excited that this is a game that is simple enough that any kid can run it by themselves (Even my 2 year old's who can't really speak yet). I know my kids love it and it gets them up and moving which is a great perk as a parent.

What I learned

On this skill the biggest thing I learned about was the SSML. Now I've had a little experience with it I am very excited about the possibilities. I think this is a really cool way to customize the user's experience!

What's next for Cylinder Says

I think the next step is to build in some sort of score tracking and maybe add a video section to the echo show that gives you a partner to play with. Maybe make that partner randomly does the action at the wrong time so that you can actually feel like you are playing with someone else. I was also thinking about making Alexa say the commands quicker as you play more so that it's more challenging.