The Housewives Test is my fourth game for Alexa and was developed as part of Amazon’s In-Skill Purchasing Challenge. In-Skill Purchasing (ISP) allows developers the ability to monetize their Alexa Skills. There are three ways to use ISP; Subscriptions, One-Time Purchases, and Consumables.
The Housewives Test challenges fans of the Real Housewives to test their knowledge of this immensely popular reality series. The Housewives Test asks questions about the most popular franchise locations including, The Real Housewives of Atlanta, Beverly Hills, Orange County, New Jersey, New York, and Dallas. Players are randomly given questions about these locations. However the reality is that most viewers do not watch all of these locations, but have personal favorites.
To address this, I offer player the opportunity to make a one time purchase of a “Platinum Passport” which allows the player to choose the the franchises they want to be tested on. For example if you are a fan of The Real Housewives of Atlanta but don’t watch the other franchises, the Platinum Passport allows you to only be asked about Atlanta.
Implementing In-Skill Purchasing turned out to a bit more involved than I had first expected, but going through the process of implementing it was really valuable, and I suspect it will be easier to do next time. In-app purchasing has been a wind-fall for the mobile market, and I suspect ISP can be equally or more successful in the voice world.
