it does not state in the details that nose length is limited to 1 char, only which the valid chars are...
might suggest adding these additional details to clarify

There are only 4 there, read the description again about what makes a valid face.

[ x:D, o), 4D, 'p, :D, :~), (dd, :p, 2;~d, ;-), ~;D, (2D, :-D, 8x, ;pp, 8D, ;2D, :d), :dD, poD, '~p, p), 8x), :~P] has expected:<4> but was:<6>

I see 6 similing faces here. Any help ?

Your code is wrong, not a kata issue, print the input to help you debug your code:

Array
(
    [0] => :---)
    [1] => ))
    [2] => ;~~D
    [3] => ;D
)

There, there is only one valid smiley face, and your code returns 3. Nose is optional, but either there is one char or there isn't, --- and ~~ aren't valid noses.

When clicking "ATTEMPT", fourth test case in testBasics() fails.
Even if you try to forcefully return 1, it will still fail saying "got 3 but expected 1". Same test cases return "SUCCESS" when just clicking "TEST" instead of "ATTEMPT"

Well, the input is defined strictly as 1000 ≤ year ≤ 9000.

what will those guys do with this function in 10000th year