Coffee Club – on Amazon Alexa

Everyone wants their favorite tasty beverage made just the way they like it. Coffee Club is a new skill for Amazon Alexa that takes the guesswork out of your next coffee run!

With Coffee Club you can add your team members or coffee-loving friends to a Coffee Club – along with their drink preferences. When it’s time for a coffee run, just ask who’d like a coffee, then tell the skill who to include in this coffee shop trip. Coffee Club will send all the information you need to your Alexa app, so you can take it with you on your phone, or forward it to whoever is on coffee run duty.

This skill was one of the first ever to use Alexa Conversations (which was in Beta at the time). It’s one of two skills I created for the #AmazonAlexaConversationsChallenge run by Amazon and DevPost in September 2020.

You can try Coffee Club here (US only), or read more details in the Amazon.com U.S. Alexa skill store !

House Hunting with Alexa

If you’ve ever found yourself in a nice neighbourhood curious about what it would cost to live there, House Hunting is for you!

It’s a new Alexa skill that simply asks a few questions about what you’re looking for, and gives you a summary of current prices in the area. It works on any Alexa-enabled device, and if you use it on the go, you don’t even need to know what zip code you’re in – just ask House Hunting to search nearby.

This skill was one of the first to use Alexa Conversations, and was one of two that I created for the #AmazonAlexaConversationsChallenge run by Amazon and DevPost in September 2020.

You can try House Hunting here (US only), or read more details in the Amazon.com Alexa skill store !

Countdown Conundrum

Countdown Conundrum is a simple yet challenging word puzzle game, where you have 30 seconds to unscramble the letters of a common word.  That’s all there is to it, but you’ll feel the pressure build as the seconds tick away.   Writing down the letters might help, but also eats into your time.  Good luck!

Update: (February 2019)  Countdown Conundrum just got a whole new word database, faster game play, score tracking, a new host (Brian) and some other nice additions.   On display devices, you can now see your scrambled letters, and quickly leave us suggestions, ratings or feedback just by scanning a QR code with your phone! 

This skill was inspired by Countdown, one of the longest-running TV game shows in the world.  It’s been running in the UK since 1982, and in France since 1965.

Availability: US, UK, Australia, Canada and India.

To get started, just find the skill using the link above for your local Amazon store,  enable it, then say to Alexa,

“Alexa, play Countdown Conundrum.”

Alexa will ask if you are ready to play.  Just tell her you’re ready and off you go.

Tips:

• Have a pencil and paper ready to write down the letters.
• If you can’t unscramble the word, say so and Brian (Alexa) will tell you.
• Look for suffixes, prefixes and other patterns, like -ING, -ION, etc.
• If you got a different word from the one Alexa was thinking about, take the points anyway!
• You can interrupt if you guess the word early.  Just say “Alexa, I got it”.
• If the current word is too frustrating you can interrupt and say “Alexa, I give up”.

When you’re finished, just say Stop to end the session.   If you have a display device you’ll see a QR code link on the credits page.  Scan the code with your phone to visit the skill’s page on your local Amazon site. We welcome suggestions, feedback and we would love your 5-star rating!

Get Countdown Conundrum from your local Alexa Skill store:

Australia: https://amzn.to/2CwNSBo
India: https://amzn.to/2CvVSTr
Canada: https://amzn.to/2CB7Lrj
UK: https://amzn.to/2Czp2AW
USA: https://amzn.to/2CA0MPh

 

Kings over Aces

UPDATE: March 8th 2019. Kings over Aces has been selected as one of just 10 finalists out of 342 entries in the world-wide contest “Amazon Alexa Skills Challenge – Multimodal” !!

Kings over Aces is a game of risk and reward, based on the playing card guessing game Higher or Lower. It also contains elements of TV shows such as Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

Gameplay is straightforward: you are dealt playing cards one at a time, and you must guess whether the next card is higher or lower than the previous one.

Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it?

But there are traps to catch the unwary (and the unlucky).   See the skill description for details.

Good luck!

To get started, just find the skill using the link below for your local Amazon store,  enable it, then say to Alexa,

“Alexa, open Kings over Aces.”

Alexa will ask if you are ready to play.  Just tell her you’re ready and off you go.

Tips:

• Just say Higher or Lower when presented with a card.  If you are right, you gain a point and keep going.
• If you’ve got a great score, think carefully!  Say Save Score to protect it but end the game, or play on and risk it all!
• Aces are low, Kings are high.  Hence the name!
• Two same-value cards in a row ends the game.
• Jokers, while extremely rare, also end the game.
• If you have a display device, you can use on-screen controls as well as voice.
• Say Check Score to check your current, and highest, scores.
• Say Help for instructions.  They will be read out, displayed on screen and sent to your Alexa app.

When you are finished, just say Stop to end the session.

Enable Kings over Aces in your Alexa app, or from your regional Amazon store using these links:

🇺🇲 https://amzn.to/2GdSOxF
🇬🇧 https://amzn.to/2GbboGV
🇨🇦 https://amzn.to/2GdTdAb
🇮🇳 https://amzn.to/2Ge7aOB
🇦🇺 https://amzn.to/2GhMRAb

Ambient Sounds: Snoring

Snoring Sounds is am ambient sound skill that simulates someone deep in a peaceful sleep, and gently snoring nearby.  It can…

• help you relax and get to sleep yourself, especially if you normally have company but tonight you’re home alone
• make your home seem cosier and bring some comfort, when you’re the only one at home
• make people *think* you’re in, when you’re really out. (Use this super-power wisely!)
• trick a friend or sibling into thinking you’re asleep in your own room, when you’re hiding in theirs (who would do such a thing?)
• when played on two or more devices at different volumes, give the impression of a whole family in an occupied home.

Availability: US, UK, Australia, Canada and India.

To get started, just find the skill using the link above for your local Amazon store,  enable it, then say to Alexa,

“Alexa, start snoring sounds.”

Alexa might stretch and yawn, before settling down into to sleep and gently snoring.

The snoring sounds play for a few minutes before looping.  The skill continues to play and loop until you say “Alexa, stop.”

Get Ambient Sounds: Snoring from your local Alexa Skill store: US, UK, Australia, Canada and India.