diff --git a/maps/test.json b/maps/test.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1aa74dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/maps/test.json
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+{
+    "map" : [
+
+        "#########################",
+        "####......#####....######",
+        "###.........###.....#####",
+        "##....#......###....#####",
+        "##...###......##.....####",
+        "##..######....##......###",
+        "##..######....###.....###",
+        "#...########..#####....##",
+        "#....#######..######...##",
+        "#....#####.......###....#",
+        "##...####...#.....##....#",
+        "###........######.###...#",
+        "###.......##......###...#",
+        "###...#..###.########...#",
+        "##...#######.......###..#",
+        "#....#############.#....#",
+        "#.....####.###.....##..##",
+        "#.........########.....##",
+        "##...##############....##",
+        "###...###..###.######..##",
+        "###.......##....####...##",
+        "####.#####......###...###",
+        "#..###................###",
+        "#..................######",
+        "#########################"
+
+    ]
+}
diff --git a/maps/test.map b/maps/test.map
deleted file mode 100644
index 2f0b033..0000000
--- a/maps/test.map
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,25 +0,0 @@
-#########################
-####......#####....######
-###.........###.....#####
-##....#......###....#####
-##...###......##.....####
-##..######....##......###
-##..######....###.....###
-#...########..#####....##
-#....#######..######...##
-#....#####.......###....#
-##...####...#.....##....#
-###........######.###...#
-###.......##......###...#
-###...#..###.########...#
-##...#######.......###..#
-#....#############.#....#
-#.....####.###.....##..##
-#.........########.....##
-##...##############....##
-###...###..###.######..##
-###.......##....####...##
-####.#####......###...###
-#..###................###
-#..................######
-#########################
diff --git a/roguelike.cabal b/roguelike.cabal
index fa81a73..a978aaf 100644
--- a/roguelike.cabal
+++ b/roguelike.cabal
@@ -29,4 +29,7 @@ executable roguelike
                        unordered-containers,
                        microlens-th,
                        microlens,
-                       linear
+                       linear,
+                       aeson,
+                       bytestring,
+                       utf8-string
diff --git a/src/Dungeon.hs b/src/Dungeon.hs
index a362043..3cccd01 100644
--- a/src/Dungeon.hs
+++ b/src/Dungeon.hs
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
+{-# LANGUAGE OverloadedStrings #-}
 module Dungeon where
 
+import Data.Aeson
+import Data.Aeson.Types
 import Data.Matrix
 import Linear.V2
 import Data.Tuple
@@ -25,10 +28,16 @@ instance Show Dungeon where
 
 makeDungeonFromFile :: String -> IO Dungeon
 makeDungeonFromFile f = do
-  contents <- readFile f
+  --contents <- readFile f
+  ef <- eitherDecodeFileStrict f :: IO (Either String Object)
+  let obj = case ef of (Right o) -> o
+                       (Left l) -> error l
+  let stringMap = case parse (.: "map") obj :: Result [String] of
+        (Success m) -> m
+        (Error s) -> error s
   let cellMappingR = map swap cellMapping
       charToCell c = fromMaybe (error "Invalid cell in the .map file") (c `lookup` cellMappingR)
-      cellLists = map charToCell <$> lines contents
+      cellLists = map charToCell <$> stringMap
   return . Dungeon . fromLists $ cellLists
 
 dungeonToLists :: Dungeon -> [[Cell]]
diff --git a/src/Dungeon/Loader.hs b/src/Dungeon/Loader.hs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..05b1b2e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Dungeon/Loader.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+module Dungeon.Loader where
+
+import Data.Aeson
+import Data.ByteString.Lazy.UTF8 (fromString)
+
+loadDungeon :: String -> IO (Either String Object)
+loadDungeon = eitherDecodeFileStrict
diff --git a/src/Game.hs b/src/Game.hs
index 55cd107..7a1610d 100644
--- a/src/Game.hs
+++ b/src/Game.hs
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ makeLenses ''Game
 
 newGame :: IO Game
 newGame = do
-  dun <- makeDungeonFromFile "maps/test.map"
+  dun <- makeDungeonFromFile "maps/test.json"
   return $ Game dun (Player $ V2 1 24)
 
 runAction :: Action -> Game -> Maybe Game