Introduction

You will start by learning the basics about Alexa Presentation Language (APL). This lab walks you through using APL to design voice and visual interactions for a Tic-tac-toe game Alexa skill.

Tic-Tac-Toe

Think of Tic-Tac-Toe. Tic-Tac-Toe is a grid-based multi-turn game for two players. Each player chooses their marker (cross or circle, often referred to as “X” or “O”), and then places an instance of that marker on a 3×3 grid board. Players can’t move their markers after placement. The winner is the first player who places three of their own markers in the same row, column, or diagonal. However, the game frequently results in a draw.

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Design considerations

Designing a multi-turn voice-only skill is fun, but presents a few challenges. For a Tic-Tac-Toe skill, users could struggle with how to:

  • State where to place their cross or circle marker.
  • Understand where Alexa places their marker.
  • Remember the status of all the markers on the game board.

Such use cases benefit from complementing voice with visuals. This is where the Alexa Presentation Language (APL) comes in handy. The goal of this lab is to walk you through how to design your dialogs and think about visual interactions. Along the way, you'll learn the basics of APL.

First, you'll focus on the voice-only user experience of the Tic-Tac-Toe skill. When you think about voice-first or start with the voice-only experience, you can then more easily identify how to complement voice interactions with visuals.