New Google Assistant skills reinvent family game night

There's no question that kids like talking to smart speakers, and Google knows it. As promised, the search firm is adding over 50 child-oriented activities to Google Assistant to make sure your Home speaker (or really, any Assistant-capable device) can entertain the younger crowd. It can orchestrate trivia games, start a round of musical chairs, tell a story or even help with homework. Not surprisingly, this includes a few branded experiences: you can ask the Assistant "what's my Justice League superhero?" or tell it to "play Mickey Mouse Adventure."

The games are rolling out right now, and Google is quick to tout that these are helped by Assistant's ability to recognize individual voices and link them to specific accounts (including kid-specific accounts). Yes, this ultimately serves as a selling point for Home speakers, but it's arguably necessary if smart speakers are going to see broader adoption. You can't simply assume that adults are the only ones issuing commands -- you need to anticipate the likely commands from everyone in the household.