# Square Town vs The Pixel Orbit: fixed squares or a re-sorting canvas?

> Square Town vs The Pixel Orbit, as of August 2026: $1 favicon squares you pick and defend, versus image rectangles ranked by total spend around a bidded centre.

Source: https://square.pov.town/vs/the-pixel-orbit

The Pixel Orbit (thepixelorbit.com) is a shared canvas of drawn, written or uploaded image rectangles where the highest total payer holds the exact centre and everyone else is re-sorted around them by cumulative spend. Square Town (square.pov.town) is a favicon wall where every square is $1, you pick your own cell, and only a payment of double can move you. The difference: on The Pixel Orbit your spend decides your position; on Square Town you choose your position and your spend decides how hard you are to evict.

## Square Town vs The Pixel Orbit at a glance

| | The Pixel Orbit | Square Town |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Pay-what-you-buy — e.g. a 5×5 rectangle is $2.50; bid more to hold the centre (as of August 2026) | $1 per square, one-time; Throne (4×4 centre) starts at $100 |
| What you place | A rectangle you draw, write on or upload | Your website's favicon, fetched from the URL you paste |
| How you pick a spot | You don't — position is sorted by total spend, highest at the exact centre | Click any empty cell in the unlocked area, or evict an occupied one |
| Ownership model | Your rectangle stays; its position moves as others spend | Hold the square until someone pays double what you paid |
| Can you lose your spot? | Your place in the orbit, yes — anyone spending more than you moves inward past you | Yes — evicted for double; the evictor's price doubles again |
| Game mechanics | Bid for the centre, canvas re-sorts, leaderboard | Evictions, the Throne with doubling price, 90-day kiss decay, ring unlocks at 70 % fill, Hall of Clowns |
| Live? | Not noted in our August 2026 check | Yes — WebSockets push every buy, eviction, kiss and unlock |
| 3D? | No | Yes — tilt into a three.js scene where tower height = clicks |
| Analytics | Leaderboard | Views, clicks and kisses per deed; $5 unlocks per-day charts |
| Accounts | Not noted in our August 2026 check | None — a secret deed URL is the only proof |
| Payment | Not noted in our August 2026 check | Stripe (card) |
| Audience | People who want a big, cheap image and don't mind drifting | Indie developers, small sites, anyone with a URL and $1 |
| Launched | 2026 | August 2026 |
| Status as of Aug 2026 | Active | Active, central 16×16 live at launch, grows to 1024×1024 |

## What The Pixel Orbit does well

**Cheap area.** At roughly ten cents a pixel-cell (5×5 for $2.50, as of August 2026), a rectangle big enough to draw on costs a few dollars. Square Town sells 1×1 squares only, at $1 each, and each shows a favicon; there is no way to buy a bigger picture.

**You bring your own image.** Draw it, write it, or upload it. If your favicon is ugly or missing, The Pixel Orbit doesn't care. Square Town shows exactly what your site serves — and if it serves nothing, you get a clown emoji and a place in the Hall of Clowns until you fix it.

**One rule for the centre.** The exact centre belongs to whoever has spent the most in total, and everyone else fans out from there by spend. It is a clean, readable idea, and it makes the whole canvas a leaderboard you can look at. Square Town's Throne is also a pay-to-hold centre, but only the Throne works that way; the rest of the wall is first-come, hold-until-evicted.

**No eviction, no decay.** Your rectangle never disappears. It moves, but it stays. That is calmer than Square Town, where a square can be taken for double and an un-kissed icon fades to grayscale after 90 days.

## What Square Town does differently

**You pick the spot.** On [square.pov.town](/) you hover an empty cell, click it, paste a URL, pay $1. That cell is yours. Nobody's spending elsewhere moves you. On The Pixel Orbit you don't choose a position; the sort does, and it changes as other people pay.

**Position is defended by price, not by total spend.** To take your square someone pays double what you paid — $2 for a $1 square, then $4, then $8. On The Pixel Orbit, someone with a bigger total simply lands closer to the centre than you; there is no per-square fight. Square Town's [economics of eviction](/blog/economics-of-eviction) are about a single cell; The Pixel Orbit's are about the whole ranking.

**One Throne, priced by history.** The 4×4 centre starts at $100 and doubles on every eviction ($100 → $200 → $400 …), so it prices itself and the ring around it can't be built on. On The Pixel Orbit the centre costs whatever beats the current top spender.

**A favicon, not an upload.** Square Town fetches your icon from your URL. That is faster and it keeps the wall honest: every square is a real site. See [why favicons beat pixels](/blog/why-favicons-beat-pixels).

**Kissing, rings, towers.** Icons not kissed in 90 days fade; anyone can kiss any icon, free. The wall starts at 16×16 and grows by 8 cells each way every time it is 70 % full, up to 1024×1024. Tilt into 3D and every icon is a tower as tall as its click count. The Pixel Orbit has none of that; it has one mechanic, done clearly.

**Live and measured.** Every buy, eviction, kiss and unlock is pushed to all open browsers over WebSockets. Every deed shows views, clicks and kisses, with $5 per-day analytics if you want them.

## Who should pick The Pixel Orbit

- You want a picture bigger than 16 px and don't want to design a favicon.
- You would rather be sorted than evicted: your image can drift outward but never vanish.
- You want to compete for the centre by total spend, over time, without a doubling wall in your way.
- You want a cheap way to be near the middle for a while and don't mind sliding later.

## Who should pick Square Town

- You want to choose exactly where you are and know that only a doubling payment can move you.
- You have a URL and want the icon fetched, placed and clickable in under a minute.
- You want the numbers: views, clicks, kisses, and per-day charts for $5. [Pricing](/pricing) is that short.
- You want the centre for real: one Throne, one owner, a price everyone can see doubling.
- You want a live 3D wall that stays live because un-kissed icons fade. [How it works](/how-it-works) covers all of it.

## Can you use both?

Yes. They reward different behaviour: The Pixel Orbit rewards cumulative spend, Square Town rewards picking well and being worth clicking. A project could hold a modest rectangle on The Pixel Orbit and a $1 square on Square Town. Square Town has no accounts, so the second costs a deed URL to bookmark and nothing more. If you're comparing the whole class of pay-to-hold-the-centre sites, [Square Town vs Milliboard](/vs/milliboard) covers the ranked-list version and [pixel advertising alternatives](/alternatives/pixel-advertising) ranks the rest.

## FAQ

### How does The Pixel Orbit decide who is in the centre?

As of August 2026, the person with the highest total payment holds the exact centre and the rest of the canvas re-sorts around them by cumulative spend. Spend more than the leader and you take the centre.

### How does Square Town decide who is in the centre?

The Throne — the 4×4 dead centre — has one owner. It starts at $100 and anyone can evict the owner for double the last price, which doubles again each time. The ring of cells around it can't be built on.

### Can I be moved on The Pixel Orbit?

Your position, yes: anyone who spends more than you in total sorts closer to the centre and pushes you outward. Your rectangle itself isn't removed.

### Can I be moved on Square Town?

Only by eviction — someone pays double what you paid for your exact square. Nobody else's purchases shift your position.

### How much does The Pixel Orbit cost?

Pay-what-you-buy; as of August 2026 a 5×5 rectangle was $2.50. Holding the centre costs whatever beats the current top spender.

### Does Square Town let me upload an image?

No. Square Town fetches the favicon from the URL you paste. If your site has no favicon it shows a clown until you add one, and there's a recheck button.

### Which has more game mechanics?

Square Town: evictions, the Throne, 90-day kiss decay, ring unlocking at 70 % fill, the Hall of Clowns, click-height towers, live WebSockets. The Pixel Orbit has one — bid to hold the centre with the canvas re-sorting by spend — and does it cleanly.