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

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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.

Portfolio Update

Here’s a sample from our Alexa skills portfolio.   There are posts on most of these in the blog, with links to the skill in your local Alexa Skill store.

To try a skill on your own Amazon Echo or other Alexa device, just use the launch phrase shown, or enable it in your Alexa app first.

 

Pass Phrase

Pass Phrase generates memorable pass phrases to use in place of passwords for your online accounts.

UPDATE: [March 12 2019]  Pass Phrase now supports Alexa devices with a screen, such as Echo Show, Echo Spot and FireTV.   Check it out!

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

Pass phrases are considered safer than passwords by many security experts, including the author of this skill, because they can be very long yet still memorable.   The skill suggests phrases by generating short, memorable sentences and numbers.  You can use the phrase as-is, or if your online account requires it you can add or remove parts of it, or insert punctuation characters.

They are also much more user friendly than passwords, because most people can read, then remember a few words long enough to enter them into a login page, without having to constantly re-check their notes.

Don’t forget to keep your pass phrases safe just like you would a password. Pass Phrase doesn’t store it and can’t get it back.

Things you can say:

“Alexa, ask Pass Phrase to get me a new pass phrase.”

The skill generates a short four-word pass phrase, and a random number.

“Repeat my pass phrase.”

After saying your pass phrase, the skill remembers it just long enough so that you can ask for it to be repeated if you are writing it down or typing it in.  Once you’ve asked for another, or ended the session, it’s gone!

 

Get Pass Phrase from your local Alexa Skill store: US, UK, Australia, Canada and India.

 

 

Scottish Facts

Scottish Facts is a skill to help you learn more about Scotland.  Whether you live here or are planning a future trip, this skill has lots of unusual information about this wonderful small country.  It’s very popular for children working on geography homework projects.

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

 

Things you can say:

“Alexa, open Scottish Facts.”

The skill plays a brief piece of Scottish bagpipe music, and prompts you to request a fact.

“Repeat that fact.”

If the fact is long, or you missed some details, the skill will repeat the same fact again for you.

“Play the Scottish National Anthem.”

There isn’t an official national anthem for Scotland, because it is part of the United Kingdom.  However, the skill will play a short clip of Flower of Scotland, a rousing piece of bagpipe music widely used to represent Scotland at international events.

 

Get Scottish Facts from your local Alexa Skill store:US, UK, Australia, Canada and India.