Game design guide for Google Assistant

Learn how to adapt your knowledge of game design to the next gaming platform, Google Assistant, and get ready to build the next great game.

Build for a new gaming platform

Examples of smart display games

The Google Assistant platform is a new frontier for games. The science fiction of talking to computers is now reality, and this technology changes what's possible for game developers. Players say a few words and they are instantly launched into a gaming experience. No clicks. No installations. No waiting.

Within this new gaming ecosystem, voice-enabled devices with big, bright screens sit patiently on the kitchen counter or next to the sofa, waiting to transport players to another world of entertainment. These smart displays are the leading edge for voice-based gaming where you can bring your talent for building immersive experiences and combine it with the most powerful and intuitive user interface we know: voice.

With voice interfaces, you eliminate physical controllers, introduce new kinds of interactive gameplay, and open up the gaming world to new players. Smart displays occupy a new space for gaming at home, where family and friends can play together in a way that's natural and intuitive. Your players get instant gaming entertainment, whenever they want: Just say it and play it.

Who's this guide for?

This guide is for any game designer or developer looking to extend their creative reach with Google Assistant. It's an invitation to bring your skills and expertise to this quickly expanding market.

If you're a web game expert, you have an advantage building games for smart displays, since the Google Assistant platform leverages web technologies for these devices. To help you build for voice interfaces, this guide provides insights into conversational design for games, and connects you with tools and resources to get you started with the basics of building voice interfaces.

How to use this guide

You know how to build great games. This guide helps you adapt what you already know to building games for Google Assistant, voice interfaces, and smart displays. It highlights the unique features, design considerations, and best practices that we've learned from building our own games.

This guide focuses on building games for smart displays as the largest growth opportunity on the platform. These devices combine the familiarity of touch screens with the power of conversational interfaces, providing a space for you to create unique and compelling gaming experiences, and connect with many new players.

We will use the following 4 games to illustrate concepts covered in this guide.


Scenes from example games: Gnome Garden, Junior Chef, Cookie Detective, Mime Jam

Guide topics

  • Build for smart displays: Learn how to build for this new class of device and what capabilities to target for your game.

  • Reach new players: Learn about the new audiences you can reach with Google Assistant games and what's unique about how they engage with the platform.

  • Build great games: Learn about creating great gaming experiences for Google Assistant that combine a visual interface with a spoken interface.