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Play Board Games with Amazon Alexa
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Recently I learned that Alexa devices could join in and play Ticket to Ride and Ticket to Ride Europe. Curious how that would work, we brought the Echo Dot downstairs, set up the game on the dining table, and then said, “Alexa, launch Ticket to Ride Europe.” After asking us a few basic questions about how we were set up, Alexa asked if she could join us, what color she should play, and then asked us to draw some route tickets. You simply read the cities on each ticket, and Alexa decides which ones to keep.
The really cool things that make the game better are that Alexa keeps score, knows how many trains each player has, and automatically tallies the final scores at the end. Alexa even reminds you of the rules if you need help along the way.
Otherwise, the gameplay isn’t much different than when playing with other people. When it’s Alexa’s turn, you say, “Alexa, your turn.” Alexa will then either play a card sound, indicating that she drew cards or a sound indicating that she is claiming a route, trying for a tunnel, or building a station. Throughout the game, the Echo device is constantly playing pleasant background music. When a human player claims a route, you say, “Alexa, blue is claiming the route between Paris and London.” This can be abbreviated to the pattern, “Alexa…
