# 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

[Video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aoYvVhnjbg) 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.


![](https://developers.google.com/static/assistant/games/images/games-montage.gif)  

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

## Guide topics

- **[Build for smart displays](https://developers.google.com/assistant/games/guide/devices):**
  Learn how to build for this new class of device and what
  capabilities to target for your game.

- **[Reach new players](https://developers.google.com/assistant/games/guide/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](https://developers.google.com/assistant/games/guide/experiences):**
  Learn about creating great gaming experiences for Google Assistant
  that combine a visual interface with a spoken interface.