The Throne, explained: the $100 centre of the internet's town square

One tile, one owner, a crown, and a price that doubles every time someone sits down.

The Throne is the 4×4 tile at the exact centre of Square Town (square.pov.town): a single gold square with a crown, one owner at a time, an introductory price of $100, and a rule that evicting the owner costs double the last price — so it goes $100 → $200 → $400 → $800 and never comes back down. It is the one pay-to-rank slot on an otherwise $1-a-square favicon wall, and every visitor sees it first.

TL;DR — 4×4 cells at the dead centre of the 1024×1024 grid (the grid centre falls between cells 511 and 512, so the tile sits at 510–513). One owner. Gold tile, crown when empty, a golden aura glow. The 20 cells ringing it can't be built on. $100 to claim when vacant; each eviction costs 2× the previous price. Nobody sets the price — the ladder does.

What the Throne is, physically#

Square Town is a 1024×1024 grid where every ordinary square is 1×1 and costs $1. The Throne is the single exception: a 4×4 block, sixteen cells wide in area, sitting exactly on the centre of the grid. Because 1024 is even, the true centre is a point between cells, so the Throne occupies rows and columns 510 to 513 and is perfectly centred.

On the wall it is rendered as one raised gold tile (#ffd84d, if you're curious). When nobody owns it, a large crown emoji sits on top. When someone owns it, their favicon replaces the crown and their click tower — the 3D box whose height equals click count — rises from the tile. Hover it and it lifts slightly with a soft halo. A radial golden glow, the aura, is drawn around it. The Throne is the first thing the camera frames when the wall loads, because the view fits the unlocked area and zooming is anchored on the centre square.

The aura ring is the ring of cells immediately around the 4×4 — a 6×6 minus the 4×4, so 20 cells. Nobody may build there. Try to place an icon on one and Square Town answers: "You can't place an icon here — the aura of the Throne is too strong." So the closest an ordinary $1 square can get to the Throne is one cell out from that ring, and those are the most visible ordinary squares on the wall.

How to claim it#

Click the gold tile. If it's vacant, the checkout is $100 (the modal jokingly shows a "list price" of $1,000,000 and an "introductory offer" that brings it to $100). Payment goes through Stripe like every other purchase; there are no accounts, so your proof of ownership is a secret deed URL. Bookmark it.

If someone already holds it, clicking shows the eviction option instead: "💀 Evict this square" at double what the current owner paid. Pay it and the previous owner is deposed in the live feed for every open browser to see, your favicon takes the tile, and the price for the next challenger doubles again.

The doubling ladder#

Under the hood the Throne is stored like any listing, with a per-square price of $100 ÷ 16 = $6.25; eviction is 2× the per-square price × 16 cells, which is why the numbers double cleanly. There is no cap and no reset. The price only moves in one direction, and it moves only when someone pays it.

Why the Throne prices itself#

Square Town never had to decide what the centre of the internet's town square is worth. It set a floor — $100, roughly the price of the Million Dollar Homepage's smallest block back in 2005 — and let the doubling rule find the ceiling.

Three properties fall out of that:

1. The price is a public record of demand. A Throne at $800 tells you three people wanted it enough to evict. Nobody can inflate it without paying, and nobody can deflate it.
2. Every seat is a real decision. Doubling means the fourth owner pays $1,600 and the seventh pays $12,800. Wars are short by design; a "+1¢" rule would let two egos trade the seat forever for pennies.
3. The last owner is protected by the price they paid. Whoever holds it at $6,400 knows the next challenger needs $12,800. On a wall where everything else costs $1, that's a moat.

It also means the Throne is not for everyone, and isn't supposed to be. The other million-odd squares are for people who want a spot; the Throne is for the one person who wants everyone to see them want it. Read pay-to-rank vs spatial ownership for why Square Town built the wall this way.

Why is being at the centre worth anything?#

Because the wall is centre-anchored. The camera opens on the Throne, zoom is anchored on it, and rings unlock outward from it: only the central 16×16 is live at launch, and each time that area is 70 % full it grows by 8 cells in every direction. Whatever the wall's size, the Throne stays in the middle of the visible area, and everything new appears around it. In 3D, the owner's click tower rises from a raised gold tile in the middle of the town, which is about as unsubtle as a favicon can be.

Nothing about the Throne changes how many clicks you'll get — Square Town never guarantees traffic, and clicks are ordinary 302 redirects with no SEO value. What you get is the most-seen coordinate on the wall and a line in the feed every time someone tries to take it from you.

How the Throne compares to other "pay to hold the centre" mechanics#

Square Town didn't invent the idea; the history of pay-to-hold-the-centre runs from King of the Ether Throne (2016, +33 % per claim) to today. Two 2026 sites are the closest comparisons, both taken from our August 2026 snapshot.

Milliboard's version is the purest: the whole site is the throne, and outbidding by a cent is a joke everyone gets. Its "Daily Throne" also gives people a daily reason to look, which Square Town doesn't copy. The Pixel Orbit's twist — cumulative spend decides who sits in the middle, and everyone else physically re-sorts around them — is closer to Square Town's spatial idea but with a moving map. Square Town's is the least liquid of the three on purpose: one fixed 4×4 coordinate, one fixed doubling rule, no way to nudge your way in with small top-ups. See Square Town vs Milliboard and Square Town vs The Pixel Orbit for the full comparisons.

Things the Throne owner should know#

• You can be evicted like anyone else. There is no tenure, no cooldown, and no notification other than the live feed and your deed page turning to "☠️ evicted". No refund either.
• Kissing applies to you too. An icon not kissed in 90 days fades to grayscale — even on gold. Anyone can kiss it back for free.
• Your favicon is doing the work. A 4×4 tile shows your icon large. If your site has no favicon you'll be the most visible clown on the wall (see the Hall of Clowns).
• The API shows you. GET /api/state returns center.owner, so anyone (or any bot) can watch who holds it and at what price.

FAQ#

What is the Throne on Square Town?#

The Throne is the 4×4 gold tile at the exact centre of the Square Town favicon wall. It has one owner at a time, an introductory price of $100, and a crown when vacant. Evicting the owner costs double the last price paid.

How much does the Throne cost?#

$100 when nobody holds it. After that, each eviction costs twice the previous price: $200, $400, $800, $1,600 and so on. As of August 2026 there is no cap and the price never decreases.

Can I build next to the Throne?#

Not directly. The ring of 20 cells around the Throne is its aura and can't be built on. The nearest buildable squares are one cell out from that ring, and they cost the usual $1.

What happens to the previous Throne owner?#

They're deposed publicly in the live feed, their deed shows "evicted", and their favicon comes off the tile. They receive no refund. They can evict back at double the new price.

Is the Throne the same as Milliboard's Daily Throne?#

No. Milliboard ranks a list by payment and its "Daily Throne" is a daily top slot on that list; Square Town's Throne is a fixed 4×4 coordinate on a spatial wall with a fixed doubling price. Both are king-of-the-hill mechanics; the rules and the page around them differ.

Does owning the Throne bring traffic or SEO?#

Square Town makes no traffic promises and offers no SEO value — clicks are 302 redirects. The Throne is the most-seen coordinate on the wall, and that's all it claims to be.