diff --git a/assets/config.json b/assets/config.json
index e1946c2..e1f0d3f 100644
--- a/assets/config.json
+++ b/assets/config.json
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@
     "ENEMY_TILE": "Ω",
     "BG_TILE": "█"
   },
-  "enemies": {
-
+  "enemy": {
+    "HEARING_DISTANCE": 8
   },
   "player": {
 
diff --git a/components.hpp b/components.hpp
index 7e46b51..7f0ebb1 100644
--- a/components.hpp
+++ b/components.hpp
@@ -25,4 +25,16 @@ namespace Components {
   struct Tile {
     std::string chr = "!";
   };
+
+  struct MapConfig {
+    std::string WALL_TILE;
+    std::string FLOOR_TILE;
+    std::string PLAYER_TILE;
+    std::string ENEMY_TILE;
+    std::string BG_TILE;
+  };
+
+  struct EnemyConfig {
+    int HEARING_DISTANCE;
+  };
 }
diff --git a/main.cpp b/main.cpp
index 0ff9ab9..f604477 100644
--- a/main.cpp
+++ b/main.cpp
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ using namespace ftxui;
  * system.
  */
 void configure_world(DinkyECS::World &world, Map &game_map) {
+  const auto &config = world.get_the<MapConfig>();
   // this sets up the gui event system
   world.set_the<Events::GUI>(Events::GUI::START);
 
@@ -30,13 +31,13 @@ void configure_world(DinkyECS::World &world, Map &game_map) {
   world.set<Position>(player.entity, {game_map.place_entity(0)});
   world.set<Motion>(player.entity, {0, 0});
   world.set<Combat>(player.entity, {100, 10});
-  world.set<Tile>(player.entity, {PLAYER_TILE});
+  world.set<Tile>(player.entity, {config.PLAYER_TILE});
 
   auto enemy = world.entity();
   world.set<Position>(enemy, {game_map.place_entity(1)});
   world.set<Motion>(enemy, {0,0});
   world.set<Combat>(enemy, {20, 10});
-  world.set<Tile>(enemy, {ENEMY_TILE});
+  world.set<Tile>(enemy, {config.ENEMY_TILE});
 
   auto enemy2 = world.entity();
   world.set<Position>(enemy2, {game_map.place_entity(2)});
@@ -57,6 +58,20 @@ int main() {
   Config config("./assets/config.json");
   world.set_the<Config>(config);
 
+  auto map = config["map"];
+  world.set_the<MapConfig>({
+      map["WALL_TILE"],
+      map["FLOOR_TILE"],
+      map["PLAYER_TILE"],
+      map["ENEMY_TILE"],
+      map["BG_TILE"]
+  });
+
+  auto enemy = config["enemy"];
+  world.set_the<EnemyConfig>({
+      enemy["HEARING_DISTANCE"]
+  });
+
   Map game_map(GAME_MAP_X, GAME_MAP_Y);
   game_map.generate();
 
diff --git a/map.cpp b/map.cpp
index 702d41a..fc423fd 100644
--- a/map.cpp
+++ b/map.cpp
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@
 #include "rand.hpp"
 #include <utility>
 
-
 using std::vector, std::pair;
 using namespace fmt;
 
diff --git a/map.hpp b/map.hpp
index 680fa22..d368952 100644
--- a/map.hpp
+++ b/map.hpp
@@ -11,11 +11,6 @@
 #define INV_SPACE 1
 #define WALL_VALUE 1
 #define SPACE_VALUE 0
-#define WALL_TILE "█"
-#define FLOOR_TILE "\u2849"
-#define PLAYER_TILE "♣"
-#define ENEMY_TILE "Ω"
-#define BG_TILE L'█'
 
 struct Room {
   size_t x = 0;
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index abed8bb..8722b84 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -8,10 +8,11 @@ ftxui_screen = dependency('ftxui-screen')
 ftxui_dom = dependency('ftxui-dom')
 ftxui_component = dependency('ftxui-component')
 sfml = dependency('sfml')
+cereal = dependency('cereal')
 
 dependencies = [catch2, fmt,
   ftxui_screen, ftxui_dom, ftxui_component,
-  json, sfml]
+  json, sfml, cereal]
 
 runtests = executable('runtests', [
   'dbc.cpp',
@@ -48,9 +49,4 @@ roguish = executable('roguish', [
   ],
   dependencies: dependencies)
 
-collider = executable('collider', [
-  './scratchpad/collider.cpp'
-  ],
-  dependencies: dependencies)
-
 test('tests', runtests)
diff --git a/systems.cpp b/systems.cpp
index 9cf08e3..6d792c8 100644
--- a/systems.cpp
+++ b/systems.cpp
@@ -13,9 +13,9 @@ using namespace fmt;
 using namespace Components;
 using ftxui::Color;
 
-#define HEARING_DISTANCE 8
-
 void System::enemy_pathing(DinkyECS::World &world, Map &game_map, Player &player) {
+  // TODO: this will be on each enemy not a global thing
+  const auto &config = world.get_the<EnemyConfig>();
   const auto &player_position = world.get<Position>(player.entity);
   game_map.set_target(player_position.location);
   game_map.make_paths();
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ void System::enemy_pathing(DinkyECS::World &world, Map &game_map, Player &player
   world.query<Position, Motion>([&](const auto &ent, auto &position, auto &motion) {
     if(ent != player.entity) {
       Point out = position.location; // copy
-      if(game_map.distance(out) < HEARING_DISTANCE) {
+      if(game_map.distance(out) < config.HEARING_DISTANCE) {
         game_map.neighbors(out, false);
         motion = { int(out.x - position.location.x), int(out.y - position.location.y)};
       }
@@ -133,6 +133,7 @@ void System::draw_entities(DinkyECS::World &world, Map &game_map, ftxui::Canvas
 }
 
 void System::draw_map(DinkyECS::World &world, Map &game_map, ftxui::Canvas &canvas, size_t view_x, size_t view_y) {
+  const auto& config = world.get_the<MapConfig>();
   const auto& player = world.get_the<Player>();
   const auto& player_position = world.get<Position>(player.entity);
   Point start = game_map.center_camera(player_position.location, view_x, view_y);
@@ -143,9 +144,9 @@ void System::draw_map(DinkyECS::World &world, Map &game_map, ftxui::Canvas &canv
 
   for(size_t x = 0; x < end_x; ++x) {
     for(size_t y = 0; y < end_y; ++y) {
-      string tile = walls[start.y+y][start.x+x] == 1 ? WALL_TILE : FLOOR_TILE;
+      string tile = walls[start.y+y][start.x+x] == 1 ? config.WALL_TILE : config.FLOOR_TILE;
       // the 2 and 4 are from ftxui::Canvas since it does a kind of "subpixel" drawing
-      if(tile == WALL_TILE) {
+      if(tile == config.WALL_TILE) {
         canvas.DrawText(x * 2, y * 4, tile, Color::RGB(70, 70, 70));
       } else {
         canvas.DrawText(x * 2, y * 4, tile, Color::RGB(20, 20, 20));
diff --git a/tests/config.cpp b/tests/config.cpp
index 5ccdd85..b4881b7 100644
--- a/tests/config.cpp
+++ b/tests/config.cpp
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 #include "config.hpp"
 #include <any>
 #include "dinkyecs.hpp"
+#include "components.hpp"
 
 using namespace fmt;
 using std::string;
@@ -60,3 +61,46 @@ TEST_CASE("can go into a world", "[config]") {
   Config &cfg = world.get_the<Config>();
   REQUIRE(cfg["types"]["NUMBER"] == 1234);
 }
+
+#include <cereal/types/unordered_map.hpp>
+#include <cereal/types/memory.hpp>
+#include <cereal/archives/json.hpp>
+#include <cereal/archives/binary.hpp>
+#include <cereal/archives/portable_binary.hpp>
+#include <fstream>
+
+struct MyData
+{
+  int x, y, z;
+  std::string tiles;
+
+  template<class Archive>
+    serialize(Archive &ar) { ar(x, y, z, tiles); }
+};
+
+
+TEST_CASE("test using serialization", "[config]") {
+  {
+    std::ofstream os("cereal.json", std::ios::binary);
+    cereal::JSONOutputArchive oarchive(os);
+
+    MyData m1{1,2,3, "\u2849█Ω♣"};
+    MyData m2{5,6,7, "\u2849█Ω♣"};
+    MyData m3{8,9,10, "\u2849█Ω♣"};
+
+    oarchive(m1, m2, m3);
+  }
+
+  {
+    std::ifstream is("cereal.json", std::ios::binary);
+    cereal::JSONInputArchive iarchive(is);
+
+    MyData m1, m2, m3;
+
+    iarchive(m1, m2, m3);
+
+    REQUIRE(m1.tiles == "\u2849█Ω♣");
+    REQUIRE(m2.tiles == "\u2849█Ω♣");
+    REQUIRE(m3.tiles == "\u2849█Ω♣");
+  }
+}
diff --git a/wraps/cereal.wrap b/wraps/cereal.wrap
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f0bc435
--- /dev/null
+++ b/wraps/cereal.wrap
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+[wrap-file]
+directory = cereal-1.3.2
+source_url = https://github.com/USCiLab/cereal/archive/v1.3.2.tar.gz
+source_filename = cereal-1.3.2.tar.gz
+source_hash = 16a7ad9b31ba5880dac55d62b5d6f243c3ebc8d46a3514149e56b5e7ea81f85f
+patch_filename = cereal_1.3.2-1_patch.zip
+patch_url = https://wrapdb.mesonbuild.com/v2/cereal_1.3.2-1/get_patch
+patch_hash = fd2f047a40a0d291c643fdafe4ce743f0eadbef667b6afe43a332e1ba0862603
+
+[provide]
+cereal = cereal_dep
+