The Who Was? series of books for children is a delightful way to meet and learn about historical figures. It was our immense pleasure and challenge to design and build a voice-first game for Google Assistant using the characters and facts from Who Was? What follows is a conversation Billy Leverington, Technical Lead for the Who Was? Adventures game.
What is this game?
It is a voice-first game for Google Assistant, best enjoyed on Google Nest Hub. First, play a memory game to build your hand of helper cards. Then, play trivia and word puzzles with help from your hand of cards. Each card is an important figure from history. Over time, you populate a hall of fame with historical figures. It's a game that encourages and rewards asking for help.
What do you like about this game?
- It’s about History.
- It uses a Voice interface.
- It is meant to be communal experience.
- It introduces the player to characters from history they may not know too well.
What was the hardest thing about building this?
Understanding what made a fun game in a voice-first UI. We had to leave many concepts on the cutting room floor, at a couple of stages: early ideation, paper prototyping, and even later in development. Finding the fun, as with any game, is the most important challenge.
Having the ability to keep the microphone on was also the most interesting and rewarding technical aspect. It was a design challenge as much as a technical feature. In terms of conversation design, there was far less of the back-and-forth typical with an Action or Skill. Instead, we were listening for input and mapping it to game answers. For the player this makes for a more natural gaming experience – less thinking about how to talk to the computer, and more direct responses.
What are you most pleased with?
The tying in of the memory game to the rest of the game via the help card mechanic. This is something that kept the team awake at night, and when it clicked we were delighted.
What do you think about voice-based games?
They have huge potential, especially in a friends and family setting. We know there is an appetite for party games, and voice input allows for scripted and organic interactions, disruption, communication, the works.
Further, the continuous listening mode is critical to enabling games with more natural and immediate interaction. Not having to say the wake word is a huge boost.
What is the key thing you learned building this game?
Simplify. Game mechanics; reward systems; voice demands you have a very obvious and clear interaction.
What do you hope players experience?
Surprise and delight in a casual, communal game. An introduction to characters from history they might otherwise never meet.
