Introduction

This little corner of the internet will document the work undertaken to reverse-engineer The Drof Computox, an electro-mechanical device that plays noughts and crosses (aka tic-tac-toe). The Computox is believed to have been put together by a hobbyist from telephone exchange parts in the 1960s.  As well as providing an opponent for a single player, it can adjudicate a two player game of tic-tac-toe.  The Computox is enclosed in a black wooden case that, when set up for play, measures 42x43x108cm and weighs in at an impressive 26kg.

As recently as 2019 the Computox was an interactive exhibit that visitors to the Museum of Computing in Swindon could challenge to a game of noughts and crosses.  However, its place has been taken by other marvelous machines in the last few years and the Computox has been resting safely in the museum's stores.

The Drof Computox being played at the Museum of Computing in 2016

The current crop of volunteers at the museum would like to know more about the Computox, how it works and where it came from. We thought it might be interesting to publish our findings and bring you along for the ride, giving a peek behind the scenes at some of the things we do and get play with. 😁