Funny Alphabet

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  Funny Alphabet

The idea

Funny Alphabet started as a simple word game, name a fruit that begins with letter P for example. It evolved into a game with many themed stories, which are quick and fun to complete. So the fruit challenge is there. But so are space,ocean and pirate adventures.

The game rewards the completion of each story with a medal, and generally tries to be nice. It aims to be educational, so although the answers are simple the surrounding dialogue is rich and informative without being boring.

It also rewards correct answers with positive feedback, but is also positive if they get it wrong or the voice recognition is simply not sure.

I also decided, that Alexa should be the narrator/main character,in its role as a Digital Assistant/trusted friend that guides you through the adventures. This was done on purpose, as I believe that children's main relationship is with the Alexa personality. It imagines a future where a digital voice assistant/AI might very well guide people through their life's adventure.

I've added sound effects to enhance the game (sourced from opensource sound libraries), to keep it interesting, and also to invoke wonder. For instance sound effects are great at creating the mood/feel of the vastness of space, or the chuckling humor of pirates.

Although Alexa takes the lead, the door is open to guests to do the story narration as well. Again they would be trusted guests.

What is it

Funny Alphabet it is a storytelling game, based on a specific learning theme.

Each adventure is short and designed to take 1-2 minutes only to complete. The adventure moves along by weaving questions into the story dialogue to make it interactive. The stories are designed to be interesting whether or not you know the answer, and to move along quickly and not trap the player in a loop (until they get it right).

Once an adventure is complete the "book" closes, and the player needs to re-start to get their next adventure. Funny Alphabet remembers where the player is up to, so content is always fresh and interesting and there is a sense of progression.

The game uses sound effects and SSML speecon takes, to reward and encourage the player throughout the game dialogue.

How I built it

I built it from scratch using node.js and a database. Then I wrote the individual stories (and re-wrote!). I also looked at the logs to see how people were interacting with the skill, ans simplified the early stages of the game.

Challenges I ran into

It took a while to get used to slots, and what you could or couldn't do. Also, the game had to focus on progression, and not expect perfection in terms of input!

Also, my initial invocation was Fun Alphabet but in between certification, someone else grabbed it, thus Funny Alphabet. There was a little bit of panic at this point!

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

I think that the use of SSML has made the dialogue friendly and interesting. And the use of sound effects. It feels fun and a rich experience. I think I have also made a nice balance between content and interaction. It really is a learning process. However, lots of players have made it to the end of my content and now I am adding more adventures - farm life, and magic.

What I learned

Well I think there is ongoing learning! I think things have to be kept interesting at all times. And voice usability is a lot of work. Kids like to move through a dialogue quickly.

What's next for Funny Alphabet

Currently the skill is US only. So I would like to add it to other markets. Also I would like to add a feature, where someone can call a specific adventure ... like space, or pirates etc.. I would also like to add a degree of personalisation, based on data analysis. But I need more data to do this. Like.. filter for the types of adventures, a player most likes. Like if the find an adventure too easy, I find them a more complicated one.

Built With

• node.js
• sql