Alexa’s new role-playing game, Starfinder, is available to play today

Alexa has proven very useful over the past few months of lockdown and although restrictions have eased considerably, you can never have too much home entertainment – especially now it’s the summer holidays.

She has been keeping us updated on the pandemic and providing background noises to make us feel like we’re back in the office, or at a beach.

There are lots of games you can play on Alexa, and today there’s a new option: a role-playing game called Starfinder. RPGs are pretty geeky, which is why Amazon is calling this a ‘multi-part interactive audio adventure game that transports players to a futuristic science-fantasy world where they can make decisions to advance and influence the outcome of the story just by using their voice’.

Starfinder – which also exists at a tabletop game – is quite a bit more elaborate than other choose-your-own adventure stories available on Alexa: the script by James L. Sutter runs to 745 pages and the voice acting – which includes performances by Nathan Fillion (best known for Firefly and Castle) and Laura Bailey (who worked on The Last of Us Part II) – took 125 hours of studio recording.

The project is a collaboration between Paizo – the creators of the board game – and Amazon, but there’s no need to know anything about the game to enjoy it on Alexa.

“The Starfinder skill for Alexa is a great example of how audio and voice-enabled experiences can create immersive and ambient entertainment,” says VP of Amazon Entertainment Devices and Services Marc Whitten, “We are thrilled with how incredible sci-fi storytellers and amazing voice talent bring this interactive adventure to life.”

Many Skills are free to use, but being a premium production, Starfinder episodes are not. You can play the pilot for free, but episodes cost £1.99 / $1.99 each or you can buy the full season for £9.99 / $9.99. To open the skill just say “Alexa, open Starfinder”.

Here are the best games you can play on Alexa.