Hasbro P-O-X

Region

United States

Associated With

Hasbro - manufacturer

Defining Feature

Two-unit alien battles over short-range radio without a link cable

Status

Discontinued - exact end of sale unknown

Overview

Hasbro P-O-X was a handheld alien-combat game whose two-player battles worked without a link cable.

Players built fictional Infectors from interchangeable heads, bodies and tails, then chose a three-round W.A.D. attack, target and defence sequence. A 17-level solo Arena rewarded new parts, while two units could exchange battle data over short-range radio after players enabled RF and pressed Send.

A public launch took place in Chicago on 4 May 2001. A nationwide November release was announced, but it is not known whether that rollout happened or when the game left sale.

Why It Mattered

Children’s friendships became part of the launch strategy in Chicago. Hasbro reportedly selected 1,500 boys and mailed ten units to each, putting extra handhelds into their social circles. Supplying multiple units suited a game whose multiplayer mode required another unit nearby, linking its promotion to the face-to-face encounters built into play.

Species, Combat and Power

• P-O-X used three colour-coded species: red Spino emphasised power, green Cycro speed, and blue Plasmo defensive or deceptive abilities.
• W.A.D. stood for WITH–AT–DEFEND, a three-round selection from predefined combat choices rather than user-written programming.
• Each unit required three AAA batteries.

Radio System and Measurements

• Hasbro said RF could work at up to 30 feet and through coats, backpacks and some obstacles or walls; these were qualified manufacturer claims, not independent test results.
• After RF was enabled and Send pressed, transmission remained active for about five minutes before Send needed to be pressed again.
• A 2022 investigation of surviving units reported signals around 315 MHz at roughly 1.17 kbps using OOK and Manchester encoding; the measurements were not independently replicated.

Credits, Patent and Surviving Film

• A 2001 launch report identified Peter Kullgren as the game’s designer, while the patent application named Alan Roach, Peter Kullgren, Daniel Sanfilippo, Darrell Merino, A. La Barbara, Mark Wiesenhahn and Georgina Melone as inventors; no sole creator is established.
• The patent application described wireless, wired and base-station implementations broader than the retail features documented by Hasbro’s manual.
• An online promotional film is described by its uploader as a 35 mm Hasbro production for a New York Toy Fair debut, but the upload date of 3 July 2009 is not its production date.

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