examples of early dolls from 1993-1994 (full size)
KiSS (short for Kisekae Set System) is a type of online dressup doll that users can download and play with in a specific 'viewer' program. the first viewer was created in 1991 so artists could make fashion dolls (kisekae ningyou, or 着せ替え人形) on the PC-9800. what started with relatively simple 16 colour drag-and-drop dolls grew over the decade to become larger, more colourful, and more complex. the program eventually allowed for 32-bit colour, but most people stuck to 256 colours and dot pixel art, keeping file sizes low--which meant that kid me could store a whopping TWELVE files on a floppy disk.
the vast majority of KiSS files were dressup dolls, particularly in an anime style or based on anime and manga characters, although there were plenty of simple games made like go, checkers, and puzzles, and some 'dolls' were simply there to show off an artist's impressive pixel art. there were also plenty of early dolls that were simply there to take the clothes off an anime girl lol. as time went on, the programming could even be used to create more complex arcade-style games, such as idiotik combat by alan mackey.
interest in KiSS eventually waned as flash games came onto the scene and allowed for dressup-style games without the need to download a program. there were still people making and playing with dolls well into the 2010's, but as operating systems continued to change, the tools to make and play with the dolls became inoperable. there have been some very recent efforts to revive it though! i think it's worth the download--the file sizes are super small, and you can actually drag and drop clothes and layer them as much as you want and however you want. they are often more simplistic looking than flash games, but they usually have a much greater variety of clothing in a variety of styles. and if you ever liked pixel dolling, you would probably like the way these look!
here are some websites that hopefully give you a more complete image of KiSS beyond my own memories and rudimentary summary. please note that some of these websites have NSFW and/or 18+ content.
Otaku World was once a thriving community that slowed down as interest in KiSS waned. by the time i was playing with KiSS in the early 2000s, it required a subscription fee to access their collection of user-submitted dolls. you could also submit a doll you made to get access to the files--something that facilitated a huge growth in dolls of various quality throughout the early 2000s. they are generously keeping the website up and running with free access to all 4500+ KiSS doll files.
by the way, the rest of Otaku World is a goldmine of 90's anime nostalgia. links to windows 95/98 desktop themes, small anime 'toys' and widgets for the PC, free games, and other charming goodies. even if many of the programs and games are hard to run on windows 10, it's a nice peek into the past of weeb culture.
WKP, or the World KiSS Project, was the first major collective of artists that put out KiSS dolls in Japan. you'll find a nice collection of dolls from the 90's on this site, but if you don't read Japanese you probably won't get much info from here. please note that there are several 18+ dolls here.
KiSS Cafe is another website that is no longer updated but still generously hosted. along with helpful information, links, and mirrors of a big chunk of dolls, you'll also find some exclusive collaboration dolls made by forumgoers of the time.
Emby Quinn still has information about KiSS up on her website, and this page has a more in-depth history than i could hope to give. the 'dolls' page is no longer accessible without the use of the internet archive, but this writeup is still interesting (at least to me), and you can still find her dolls on Otaku World.
Kisekae.org is a website that uses javascript to play KiSS dolls on a browser. It doesn't have complete support for FKiSS, but does have support for the less complex click-based effects and snapping clothes for dolls. it has a nice selection of dolls already uploaded to play with, but you can play with .
Smooch is a browser-based KiSS doll viewer as well that is also still being actively developed. like kisekae.org, it currently has support for simpler FKiSS. she has a fairly robust demo, an active github, and an alpha of the viewer. libby also gave a very interesting talk this year with some information about the programming behind KiSS and the methods she's been using to make the Smooch viewer.
The KiSS Doll House, run by Clockwork Prince, is a great resource for KiSS dolls in the current age of the internet. they've collected some helpful links and information about KiSS, and have even made a VERY helpful guide to making KiSS dolls in 2022! the site also hosts their own lovely dolls.
Lycopersica.xyz also has a contemporary page on KiSS with some helpful links, including a hand-selected archive of their recommended KiSS dolls.
