diff --git a/gui.cpp b/gui.cpp
index 7fec19a..c279663 100644
--- a/gui.cpp
+++ b/gui.cpp
@@ -55,7 +55,9 @@ GUI::GUI() :
   $window(sf::VideoMode(VIDEO_X,VIDEO_Y), "Roguish"),
   $screen(SCREEN_X, SCREEN_Y),
   $map_screen(0,0),
-  $map_font_size(BASE_MAP_FONT_SIZE)
+  $view_port{0,0},
+  $map_font_size(BASE_MAP_FONT_SIZE),
+  $line_spacing(0)
 {
   $font.loadFromFile("./assets/text.otf");
   resize_map(BASE_MAP_FONT_SIZE);
@@ -131,7 +133,6 @@ bool GUI::handle_events() {
 
 sf::Sprite &GUI::get_text_sprite(wchar_t tile) {
   if(!$sprites.contains(tile)) {
-    $sprites.clear();
     sf::Glyph glyph = $font.getGlyph(tile, $map_font_size, false);
     // WARNING! we actually have to do this here because SFML caches
     // the glyphs on the font texture, so this gets loaded each time
@@ -154,9 +155,11 @@ void GUI::run_systems() {
 
 void GUI::resize_map(int new_size) {
   if(MIN_FONT_SIZE < new_size && new_size < MAX_FONT_SIZE) {
+    $sprites.clear(); // need to reset the sprites for the new size
     $map_font_size = new_size;
-    sf::Glyph base_glyph = $font.getGlyph(L'█', $map_font_size, false);
-    auto bounds = base_glyph.bounds;
+    $base_glyph = $font.getGlyph(L'█', $map_font_size, false);
+    auto bounds = $base_glyph.bounds;
+    $line_spacing = $font.getLineSpacing($map_font_size);
     $view_port = {
       size_t(std::ceil((VIDEO_X - GAME_MAP_POS) / bounds.width)),
       size_t(std::ceil(VIDEO_Y / bounds.height))
@@ -179,48 +182,64 @@ void GUI::draw_screen(bool clear, float map_off_x, float map_off_y) {
 
   float y = 0.0f;
   float x = GAME_MAP_POS;
-  const float line_spacing = $font.getLineSpacing($map_font_size);
-  sf::Glyph base_glyph = $font.getGlyph(L'█', $map_font_size, false);
+  // make a copy so we don't modify the cached one
   auto bg_sprite = get_text_sprite(L'█');
+  auto bg_bounds = bg_sprite.getLocalBounds();
   bg_sprite.setColor(sf::Color(20,20,20));
   auto add_sprite = get_text_sprite(L'!');
   bool has_add = false;
 
   for(size_t i = 0; i < map_screen_utf8.size(); i++) {
     wchar_t tile = map_screen_utf8[i];
-    sf::Sprite &sprite = get_text_sprite(tile);
-    sprite.setPosition({x, y});
-    bg_sprite.setPosition({x, y});
-
-    if(tile == L'█') {
-      sprite.setColor(sf::Color(80,80,80));
-    } else if(tile == L'☺') {
-      sprite.setColor(sf::Color::Blue);
-    } else if(tile == L'Ω') {
-      sprite.setColor(sf::Color::Red);
-      add_sprite.setColor(sf::Color::Red);
-      add_sprite.setPosition({x-3,y-3});
-      has_add = true;
-    } else if(tile == L'#') {
-      sprite.setColor(sf::Color(5,5,5));
-    } else if(tile == L'\r') {
-      continue; // skip these, just windows junk
-    } else if(tile == L'\n') {
-      // newline
-      y += line_spacing;
+
+    if(tile == L'\n') {
+      // don't bother processing newlines, just skip
+      y += $line_spacing;
       x = GAME_MAP_POS;
-      continue;
+    } else if(tile == L'\r') {
+        continue; // skip these, just windows junk
     } else {
-      sprite.setColor(color(Value::MID));
-    }
+      // it's a visual cell
+      bg_sprite.setPosition({x, y});
+      sf::Sprite &sprite = get_text_sprite(tile);
+
+      // 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;
+
+      // TODO: need to center it inside the bg_sprite
+      sprite.setPosition({x+width_delta, y+height_delta});
+
+      if(tile == L'█') {
+        sprite.setColor(sf::Color(80,80,80));
+      } else if(tile == L'☺') {
+        sprite.setColor(sf::Color::Blue);
+      } else if(tile == L'Ω') {
+        sprite.setColor(sf::Color::Red);
+        // HACK: just playing with adding multiple characters for drawing
+        add_sprite.setColor(sf::Color::Red);
+        add_sprite.setPosition({x-3,y-3});
+        has_add = true;
+      } else if(tile == L'#') {
+        sprite.setColor(sf::Color(5,5,5));
+      } else {
+        sprite.setColor(color(Value::MID));
+      }
 
-    $window.draw(bg_sprite);
-    $window.draw(sprite);
-    if(has_add) {
-      $window.draw(add_sprite);
-      has_add = false;
+      // now draw the background sprite and sprite
+      // TODO: this can become a standard sprite description
+      $window.draw(bg_sprite);
+      $window.draw(sprite);
+      if(has_add) {
+        $window.draw(add_sprite);
+        has_add = false;
+      }
+      // next cell
+      x += $base_glyph.advance;
     }
-    x += base_glyph.advance;
   }
 
   $window.display();
diff --git a/gui.hpp b/gui.hpp
index 1e77333..a5458ba 100644
--- a/gui.hpp
+++ b/gui.hpp
@@ -52,8 +52,10 @@ class GUI {
   DinkyECS::World $world;
   sf::Texture $font_texture;
   std::unordered_map<wchar_t, sf::Sprite> $sprites;
-  Point $view_port = {0,0};
+  Point $view_port;
   int $map_font_size;
+  sf::Glyph $base_glyph;
+  float $line_spacing;
 
 public:
   GUI();