How did it start?
XNO LLC started as an idea on a run. I had been getting more and more into 4x4x4 tic tac toe, and wanted to start selling the boards I was making to others. I’ve been playing 4x4x4 since I was a kid and my mom wanted to keep me entertained at dinner. I played some more with friends in high school and college to pass the time on bus rides and in classes. But I wasn’t obsessed with the game until I built a physical board for it—a terrible, rickety, wooden board that used puff balls and marbles that would fall off any time it moved, but it didn’t matter. All the sudden I didn’t need to visualize the board; it was right there in front of me.
My play—encouraged by my little brother beating me too much—improved by leaps and bounds. We quickly learned about forces and combos, the power of corners, and more. I started to actually research the game, building a computer program to play against me, which is still available on github. After a summer working on arduino, I decided to put my skills to the test and build an electronic tic tac toe board using an Aurduino Mega. It cost $350. I got excited to play with friends remotely and designed some much smaller boards using Raspberry Pi Zeros that could connect over wifi. They only cost $120. The power of scale was obvious. I began dreaming of a completely custom design that I could sell to hundreds or thousands of people. That was when I started up XNO LLC.
XNO LLC has one top priority: to make people love tic tac toe. That’s why I’m making 4Play and selling it to you! XNO isn’t just about tic tac toe though; I’m hoping that the company can set a good example in the process. That’s why the board had a huge redesign, aiming to significantly reduce the environmental impact of the company, and why all our manufacturing and assembly work is done in the US. You can read more about that effort below. I believe that all companies (even fun, tiny companies like XNO LLC) have a responsibility to not destroy the world when they create things. If you have other thoughts about how XNO should work, feedback about 4Play, or ideas for the future, don’t hesitate to let me know through the form to the right or by sending me an email!
What’s the name mean?
Any thoughts?
Fill out this form or email me at chris@xno.store
I read and reply to all your messages, don’t hesitate to reach out if you’re wondering something!
Timeline
<past>
December 2016
Built wooden tic tac toe board
May 2017
My program beat the best program I could find online
August 2017
Made my first electronic tic tac toe board
January 2018
Made first 4Play design
June 2018
Founded XNO LLC
July 2018
Realized this is not a summer project
December 2018
Redesigned board based on LCA
March 2019
Submitted provisional patent for new design
<future>
May 2019
Get molds, finish prototype
June 2019
Get approved
September 2019
Start Kickstarter campaign
October 2019
Finish software, start manufacturing
November 2019
Assemble and ship boards
December 2019
Everyone gets their boards!
January 2020
Decide on next steps
January 2032
No more free part replacement (and my 35th birthday)
FAQ
How big is your company?
It’s just me.
Where are you based?
Weirdly all over—the company is registered in Delaware with my home (Virginia) address, but I’m mostly working in southern California.
When can I get a 4Play board?
I’m currently aiming for Christmas 2019! I’ll have a much more fleshed out schedule by this summer.
Why should I pay for a tic tac toe board?
Don’t knock it ‘till ya try it. Tic tac toe has quickly become my favorite game. If you like Chess, Rubik’s cubes, Flow (the iPhone app), or othello/reversi, this is the game for you. It requires as much visualization and forethought as you can use—trust me. Forcing sequences are especially fun to plan out, since they’re totally deterministic but the longest ones can require keeping track of over 20 moves in your head. While you can totally play on paper, playing with a physical board takes away a lot of the work and abstraction. It lets you learn a lot faster and have more fun!
How can I trust your boards will work?
Good question. I’ll be testing every one before it ships out, so I trust them to work. And they’ll ship with a 12 year guarantee. Up to that point, you’re able to sell the board back to XNO (at a reduced price), or get new replacement parts for free. This is not just a PR move, it’s part of my work to reduce the environmental impact of the company. You can read more about this below.
What will XNO do after the Kickstarter campaign?
Provided the Kickstarter campaign is successful, I will file for a full patent in the spring of 2020, continue working on the software to make it more fun and exciting (like adding AI that learns how you play!), and figure out what the long term plans of XNO will be. I don’t plan on making tic tac toe boards my whole life, but if 4Play is successful enough, a larger company might be interested in making a cooler version. Otherwise, I’ll likely just keep the app updated and everyone’s boards working as I work on other things.
Setting the Standard
Even though it’s a small company, XNO LLC is committed to having a positive impact on the world. I firmly believe that companies ought to be in the business of providing services for their customers, not offering them compromises. No customer would accept an up-sale of a destroyed forest or rising seas. So why do so many products come with these things included? It's a ridiculous system, and one that can easily be changed. To ensure that you aren't harming others by ordering from XNO, I pledge to work by the following standard:
XNO LLC is responsible for maintaining, reallocating, and recycling everything it produces.
This implies that the company is responsible for its total carbon footprint, including that of its products. Therefore XNO will be taxed internally at a rate of $50/Mg CO2. Part of these funds will pay for carbon offsets equal to its footprint, while the rest goes to internal sustainability work.
It also implies that my products are XNO’s responsibility once the customer is done with them. That is why I am offering a 12 year guarantee, which I’ll explain further in a future blog post. Basically, customers will be able to fix parts and sell back their products to XNO as they break or go out of use. Customers should never need to throw away anything sold to them by XNO. This program will be partially funded by the money raised through the internal carbon tax.
Given these requirements, I will be working tirelessly to reduce XNO’s impact on the world. Reducing byproducts, waste, and CO2 emissions is profitable for the company. Making sure that my products (including their boxes and batteries) don't end up in a landfill is a requirement, one that will improve your experience as a customer. This way of doing business is not overly burdensome or unprofitable. I want to sell you my products, and I want you to be sure that that's all you're getting—no hidden compromises. The theory is simple: if all companies followed this standard, we would have a sustainable economy.
Chris McElroy, Founder, CEO, President, Senior Engineer, Accountant, and Janitor for XNO LLC.
About Me
Hi! I’m Chris McElroy, I founded XNO and designed 4Play. I’m kinda obsessed with 4x4x4 tic tac toe. And Minecraft. I’m about to graduate as an engineer from Harvey Mudd College. After working on 4Play, I plan to use the skills I’ve built here to work on more serious problems, like inequality and global warming. I haven’t solved those yet though, so my bio ends here for now.