diff --git a/render.cpp b/render.cpp
index 018ef71..b3fd04f 100644
--- a/render.cpp
+++ b/render.cpp
@@ -103,7 +103,22 @@ void SFMLRender::draw_main_ui() {
   $window.draw($ui_text);
 }
 
+inline void configure_tile(const sf::Sprite &sprite, sf::FloatRect &sp_bounds,  sf::FloatRect bg_bounds, float &width_delta, float &height_delta) {
+  // should look into caching all this instead of calcing it each time
+  sp_bounds = sprite.getLocalBounds();
+
+  // calculate where to center the sprite, but only if it's smaller
+  width_delta = bg_bounds.width > sp_bounds.width ? (bg_bounds.width - sp_bounds.width) / 2 : 0;
+  height_delta = bg_bounds.height > sp_bounds.width ? (bg_bounds.height - sp_bounds.height) / 2 : 0;
+}
+
 void SFMLRender::render_text(std::string &text, float x, float y) {
+  wchar_t last_tile = '#';
+  sf::FloatRect sp_bounds;
+  float width_delta = 0;
+  float height_delta = 0;
+  sf::Sprite &sprite = get_text_sprite(last_tile);
+
   // make a copy so we don't modify the cached one
   $ansi.parse(text, [&](sf::Color bg, sf::Color fg, wchar_t tile) {
     if(tile == '\n') {
@@ -114,15 +129,14 @@ void SFMLRender::render_text(std::string &text, float x, float y) {
         return; // skip these, just windows junk
     } else {
       $bg_sprite.setPosition({x, y});
-      sf::Sprite &sprite = get_text_sprite(tile);
       $bg_sprite.setColor(bg);
 
-      // should look into caching all this instead of calcing it each time
-      auto sp_bounds = sprite.getLocalBounds();
-
-      // calculate where to center the sprite, but only if it's smaller
-      auto width_delta = $bg_bounds.width > sp_bounds.width ? ($bg_bounds.width - sp_bounds.width) / 2 : 0;
-      auto height_delta = $bg_bounds.height > sp_bounds.width ? ($bg_bounds.height - sp_bounds.height) / 2 : 0;
+      // only get a new sprite if the tile changed
+      if(last_tile != tile) {
+        last_tile = tile; // update last tile seen
+        sprite = get_text_sprite(tile);
+        configure_tile(sprite, sp_bounds, $bg_bounds, width_delta, height_delta);
+      }
 
       sprite.setPosition({x+width_delta, y+height_delta});
       sprite.setColor(fg);