27 Best Alexa Games to Keep You Entertained
Have More Fun with Alexa
Alexa gets props for its smart-home, news, music and productivity skills, but the assistant's got game, too. From interactive stories to bingo, Amazon's voice assistant makes an excellent game master and can keep you entertained for hours. Here are the best game and trivia skills for Alexa.
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The Magic Door
It's "Choose Your Own Adventure" for the Alexa age. Say, "Alexa, open the magic door," and it will talk you through one of several stories. Alexa will describe the scene, and the story unfolds based on the choices you make. Stories include helping a princess find her crown or a gnome find a key.
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Escape the Room
Just like the real-live version, the Escape the Room skill has you use Alexa to search through a virtual room to find clues on how to escape. There are four rooms, in increasing level of difficulty, from which to choose: a jail cell, office, car, and garage. If you get stuck, a walkthrough can help you get out.
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Would You Rather for Family
This family-friendly version of Would You Rather makes you pick between two silly situations. New questions are being constantly added, and there's even a football edition of the game.
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Twenty Questions
Another classic game brought to Alexa. Think of something, and then Alexa will try and guess--in twenty questions or less--what it is. Can you stump Amazon's assistant?
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The Wayne Investigation
Solve the question at the root of Batman's origin story: Who killed Bruce Wayne's parents? You play a detective investigating the murder. It's a fun way to explore a world familiar to fans of the Dark Knight.
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Earplay
Harkening back to the days when radio stories were the favored form of entertainment, Earplay offers up thriller stories with an interactive twist. Your choices determine how each story unfolds. This skill features two stories, though Earplay promises that more are on the way.
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Myth Buster
Test your BS detector with this game. Alexa gives a statement, and you say if it's true or false. Then Alexa gives details to help you better understand the facts. Example: True or false? Twinkies and McDonald's burgers last forever. That's false, thankfully.
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Animal Game
Turn the tables and make Alexa guess what animal you pick. Have an animal in mind and start the game. Alexa will ask a series of questions until it believes it's found your animal. It needed fewer than 10 questions to guess I'd picked a turtle.
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Mind Maze
Playing this game feels like trying to navigate a maze in the dark. Alexa tells you your coordinates and where you are trying to go. In each space, it tells you the directions you can travel. After you move, you'll hear a new set of potential actions. This game definitely requires some serious concentration to keep from moving in circles.
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Twisted Game
No need to spin the wheel during your next game of Twister — Alexa can do it for you. Start a game, and Alexa will give instructions like "right hand blue" until you say stop. Make the game more challenging by speeding up the frequency of commands.
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Golden Ticket
If you think you're a movie buff, Golden Ticket will test your skills. This game gives you two movie titles, and you have to name the actor who starred in both. It's harder than it sounds!
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Question of the Day
The Question of the Day skill gives you a new head-scratcher each morning, in topics ranging from arts and entertainment to literature and science. You can also hear how other people have answered.
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Super Brain
Listen closely! In this memory game, Alexa describes a scene and then asks three questions about it. Pick from easy, medium or hard depending on your level of focus.
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Amazing Word Master Game
Get out your dictionary. This game could have you digging deep to find the longest words in order to score the most points. Alexa says a word, and you have to reply with another word that starts with the last letter in Alexa's choice (don't worry — Alexa tells you the last letter on its word). The longer the word you pick, the more points you get.
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Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock
You don't need another person to get a rousing game of Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock going; Alexa is always ready to play. The assistant will tell you when it has made a choice. You say yours. Alexa will tell you who wins, keeping track of the overall score.
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Jeopardy!
Test your knowledge with the popular TV trivia game Jeopardy! skill. Each day, you can answer six questions--plus six more if you're an Amazon Prime member (otherwise, it costs $1.99). The clues are read by none other than Alex Trebek, too. Remember to phrase your answer in the form of a question!
Hunt the Yeti
In Hunt the Yeti, you're a hunter in a dark cave. Alexa tells you which direction you can go, and you navigate while trying to find the mythic creature. When you locate the yeti, you throw the spear in a direction to try to hit the animal. It's like the Mind Maze skill with a touch of violence.
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Tricky Genie
Test your judgment and memory against the Tricky Genie. Alexa tells you a story in which a character has a problem. The Tricky Genie appears and offers three options. You pick and decide if there is a better option waiting. When the game is over, Alexa asks a couple of questions about the story to see how well you remember.
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Board Games Answers
If you can't remember how to play Monopoly, The Game of Life or other classic games, make Alexa your board game referee. It knows who should go first in Monopoly (the banker) or how many dice you use in Yahtzee (five).
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Fortune Teller Zoltar
Skip the fortune cookie and ask Alexa to tell your fortune. It will respond with the kinds of vague fortunes you often receive at Chinese restaurants. Just don't ask Zoltar to make you big
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Where in the World
Think you're a global citizen? Test your knowledge of world geography with this skill. Each round consists of five questions, which range from identifying capitals to determining a country based on the landmarks around it.
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Yes Sire
Play the play the part of medieval lord and see how you’d have fared in the middle ages. Yes Sire presents you with situations, such as whether to allow a theater troupe into the village and what to do with a thief. Based on your choices, you earn wealth and influence points. Just don’t get too popular or you’ll get beheaded!
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Deal or No Deal
This one’s a little complicated but addictive. In Deal or No Deal, there are 20 cases, with amounts ranging from 1 cent to $1 million. You pick a case, then start opening the others. Keep track of what’s in each—at the end of each round, you’ll get an offer from a banker. If you think the amount in your case is lower than the amount offered, take it and you win.
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Millionaire Quiz Game
Is that your final answer? Structured like the So You Want to Be a Millionaire game show, answer the Millionaire Quiz Game trivia questions correctly and win “money” (no actual value). You even get lifelines. The first questions are easy, but they get harder quickly.
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Categories Game
Similar to Scattergories, the Categories Game skill tasks you to come up with a word that begins with a certain letter in each category. To start playing the game, say "Alexa, play Categories Game." She will then say (as an example) "I rolled the letter A. First category is Animal..." You will then have to come up with the name of an animal that starts with the letter A. If your answer was accepted, you get 50 minus the number of seconds it took you to answer.
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Three Questions
The premise of the Three Questions game is pretty simple. Alexa will ask you three questions, which can come from a variety of topics. The more you answer correctly, the greater the chance you have of getting on the Three Questions leaderboard.
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Michael Gowan covers soundbars, TVs, portable speakers and other audio- and video-related topics for Tom’s Guide. He’s written about music and technology for more than 20 years for a raft of publications including Wired, Men’s Journal, PC World and Macworld. When he’s not reviewing speakers, he’s probably listening to one anyway.