Square Town for communities and Discords: buy a cluster, hold the Throne

One square each, all in one corner, and one gold tile in the middle you can take as a group.

Square Town (square.pov.town) is a favicon wall where each 1×1 square costs $1 once, you choose the cell, and anyone can evict any square by paying double. For a community — a Discord server, a forum, a maker group, a class — it works as a group activity: members buy neighbouring squares so the community's sites form a visible cluster, kiss each other's icons so nobody fades, and, if the group feels like it, hold the Throne in the centre as a shared trophy.

TL;DR — $1 per member site, one-time, no accounts. Pick adjacent cells in one sitting for a cluster. Kissing is free and public, so a community can keep every member's icon alive indefinitely. The Throne (4×4 centre) starts at $100 and doubles at every eviction — a natural group target. No SEO, no traffic promise, and rivals can evict you.

The problem#

Communities are full of projects nobody outside the community sees. The #showcase channel scrolls; the pinned list goes stale; the wiki page of member sites is a wall of text. There is no cheap, visual, shared place where the group's stuff sits together and stays put.

There is also the social problem: everyone wants to support each other's projects, but "support" usually means one emoji reaction. Square Town turns support into a click on a public counter.

What a $1 square gives a community#

How to do it#

1. Agree on a spot. Look at the live area together (only the central 16×16 is live at launch; it grows by 8 in every direction each time it is 70 % full). Pick a corner or an edge of the current live area with enough free cells for everyone.
2. Check favicons first. Every member site needs one, or its square shows a clown and the site is listed in the Hall of Clowns. Post how to add a favicon in the channel a day ahead.
3. Buy in one sitting. Each member opens square.pov.town, clicks the agreed cell, pastes their URL, and pays $1 by card. There are no accounts and no group checkout — each person buys their own square, so coordinate cell by cell in the channel. Cells are reserved for 30 minutes once someone starts checkout, so slow payers won't be sniped mid-purchase.
4. Save deed URLs. Each person's deed link is the only proof of ownership. Tell everyone to bookmark it. There is no recovery.
5. Set up a kiss rota. Icons fade to grayscale after 90 days without a kiss. A pinned message — "kiss the block on the 1st" — is enough. Kissing is one click per icon and costs nothing.
6. Optionally go for the Throne. One member clicks the gold tile and presses "Claim the Throne" ($100 intro price) and the group treats it as shared. Others can chip in outside Square Town — Square Town itself has no pooled payment. When a rival evicts it, the price to take it back is double what they paid.
7. Watch the boards. The side panel shows most-clicked and most-kissed. A community that clicks its own members' squares will show up there.

Tips#

• Cluster near the Throne if you can. The camera starts centred, so cells close to the middle are seen first. Early rings fill fast.
• Kiss each other's icons — that's the whole point. A grey block reads as an abandoned community. A block where every icon has a healthy kiss count reads as alive.
• Keep favicons. Members who redeploy and lose the favicon get clowned; the "I fixed my favicon" button clears it after a fix.
• Buy the $5 analytics unlock on the community's own site square if you want per-day charts to share in the channel. Individual members can decide for themselves.
• Save every deed URL somewhere the member controls. Don't collect them centrally — a deed URL is full control of the square.
• Treat the Throne as sport, not investment. Every eviction doubles it ($100 → $200 → $400 → …). Decide in advance how far the group is willing to go, then enjoy the feed.
• Defend by evicting back. If someone evicts a member's $1 square, it costs $2 to take it back and then $4 for them to try again. Cheap squares are cheap to steal but also cheap to reclaim.

What it won't do#

• No SEO value. The wall is a WebGL canvas and clicks are 302 redirects. A cluster of squares does not build backlinks for anyone.
• No traffic guarantees. Some squares get clicks; many don't. The deed pages tell the truth.
• No group accounts, pooled payments or team features. Every square is bought by one person with one card and one deed. Coordination happens in your channel, not on Square Town.
• Anyone can evict anyone. A rival community can pay double for a member's square, or for the Throne. That is the game; there is no protection or reservation.
• No notifications. Square Town doesn't message you when you are evicted or your icon is about to fade. Someone in the group has to look, or watch the public API.

FAQ#

How does a Discord server put its members' sites on Square Town?#

Each member buys their own $1 square (card, no account) on an agreed patch of adjacent cells, in one sitting so nobody gets sniped. The result is a block of favicons that links to every member's site.

Can we buy squares as a group with one payment?#

No. Every square is a separate $1 purchase with its own deed URL, paid by one person through Stripe. Coordinate cells in your channel and let each member buy theirs.

What does kissing do and why does a community care?#

Kissing an icon (click it, press 💋) is free and public, and resets its 90-day fade timer. A community that kisses each other's icons keeps its whole block in colour and racks up visible kiss counts. See kiss the icon.

How does the Throne work as a community trophy?#

The Throne is the gold 4×4 at the exact centre, one owner, intro price $100. Anyone can evict the owner for double the last price, and every eviction doubles it again. A group can hold it under one member's name and defend it as a shared game. See The Throne.

What happens if a rival server evicts our squares?#

They pay double what each square cost — $2 for a $1 square — and the evictions appear in the live feed for everyone. You can evict them back for double their price, or buy fresh cells.

Does a cluster of squares help our members' sites rank in Google?#

No. Clicks are 302 redirects from a canvas; there is no link equity. Square Town offers visibility on the wall, a game, and per-square counts — not SEO.

What if a member's site has no favicon?#

Their square shows a clown emoji and the site is listed in the Hall of Clowns until they add one and press the recheck button. Sort favicons out before buying.