Kiss the icon (on Square Town) is the free affection mechanic: anyone — owner or stranger — can kiss any icon at no cost by clicking it and pressing 💋. A kiss adds one to the icon's public kiss count, adds a storey to its 3D tower, and is announced in the live feed, up to 5 kisses per icon per browser per hour. Square Town (square.pov.town) calls it kissing the ring.
TL;DR: kisses are free, public, counted, and capped at 5 per icon per browser per hour. The count is the scoreboard; the tower is the monument.
How it works on Square Town
Every listing stores the time it was last kissed — that's watered_at in the API, and a claim counts as the first kiss. Kissing sends POST /api/kiss/:id; the server updates the timestamp, increments kisses, grows the tower a storey, and broadcasts a feed line such as "💋 someone kissed example.com's ring" over WebSockets, so a 💋 burst plays on every open browser at once. There is no login and no cost; the only limit is 5 kisses per icon per browser per hour. Kisses per icon are counted on the deed page and feed the "most kissed" leaderboard in the side panel.
What kissing does not do: it does not protect against eviction — that costs double regardless, $1 minimum. Rules: How Square Town works — the complete rulebook. Kissing also used to be a keep-alive: an icon unkissed for 90 days faded to grayscale with a 💔. That fade is switched off for now, and may return.
Where else it appears
One-click public affection is the oldest gesture on the internet — stars, likes, claps, upvotes. Square Town's version differs in where the click lands: not on a feed item but on a square of shared land, where each kiss stacks a visible storey onto the icon's tower. As of August 2026 nobody else lets a passing stranger make your building taller.
Example
You claim a square in August and forget about it. In November a visitor browsing the 3D wall takes a liking to your favicon, kisses it, and the feed says "💋 a stranger kissed yoursite.com. Out of respect, presumably." Your tower is a storey taller and your deed shows kisses: 2 — the claim counted as the first. See Kiss the icon: why favicons on Square Town faded after 90 days for the original decay design, currently switched off.
FAQ
Can I kiss my own icon?
Yes. Anyone can kiss any icon, including their own — up to 5 kisses per icon per browser per hour. Click the favicon, press 💋.
Is kissing free?
Yes, and there is no account. Kisses are public: they appear in the live feed and in each icon's kiss count.
What is watered_at in the API?
The timestamp of the icon's last kiss. A claim counts as the first kiss, so every listing has one.