Amazon's Alexa is now able to beat users at tabletop board games. The Alexa board game feature is Amazon's newest entry into the gaming industry after having also revealed a new trailer for its MMO New World at The Game Awards 2019.

Alexa owners can now play Ticket to Ride and Ticket to Ride Europe with the digital assistant. The board game skills are available for free on the device but a test of the feature by Polygon reveals that players will need to have physical copies of the board game to play. The Amazon assistant can help new players learn how to play Ticket to Ride, though Alexa can also be a strong opponent that helps Ticket to Ride players get better.

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Board game

Polygon says that playing Ticket to Ride against Alexa does change how the game works. Alexa has different odds for drawing cards from the Train Car deck; the game cannot be paused such as if the human player wants to go to the toilet or get a snack, and the assistant may not always understand what players are saying to it.

It's unclear if Amazon has more plans to add more board game support to Alexa, but there are many places that the company could take it. Alexa skills could be used to teach players new strategies for the board games that they enjoy. Gamers are always looking online for tips on how to play multiplayer games like Apex Legends, so why wouldn't they get suggestions for board games from an assistant like Alexa? Alexa could also help players set up games like Monopoly, telling them how much money a player needs, and this could be great for those who've lost the manual.

Whatever Amazon is planning with Alexa's board game support, it's just one way that the company is trying to get gamers to use the product. BioWare fans found a Mass Effect Easter egg on the Amazon Echo and Amazon has also worked with Activision to release a Destiny 2 skill and a Ghost speaker. Alexa can be used to play choose your own adventure games such as RuneScape Quests: One Piercing Note and Earplay. It's no surprise that Amazon is doing this as people who enjoy using Alexa to play games will probably be more likely to use it to order items, or tell their friends to get one so users can probably expect more gaming skills of some sort to be released.

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Source: Polygon