diff --git a/src/avatar.rs b/src/avatar.rs
index d7ea6c6..c5e5789 100644
--- a/src/avatar.rs
+++ b/src/avatar.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 use crate::{from_base36, optional_data_line, AnimationFrames, Image, Position, ToBase36};
+use std::error::Error;
 
 /// avatar is a "sprite" in the game data but with a specific id
 #[derive(Debug, Eq, PartialEq)]
@@ -24,8 +25,8 @@ impl Avatar {
     }
 }
 
-impl From<String> for Avatar {
-    fn from(string: String) -> Avatar {
+impl Avatar {
+    pub(crate) fn from(string: String) -> Result<Avatar, &'static dyn Error> {
         let string = string.replace("SPR A\n", "");
         let mut lines: Vec<&str> = string.lines().collect();
 
@@ -67,13 +68,7 @@ impl From<String> for Avatar {
             .map(|&frame| Image::from(frame.to_string()))
             .collect();
 
-        Avatar {
-            animation_frames,
-            name,
-            room_id,
-            position,
-            colour_id,
-        }
+        Ok(Avatar { animation_frames, name, room_id, position, colour_id })
     }
 }
 
@@ -92,7 +87,7 @@ impl ToString for Avatar {
 
 #[test]
 fn test_avatar_from_string() {
-    let output = Avatar::from(include_str!("test-resources/avatar").to_string());
+    let output = Avatar::from(include_str!("test-resources/avatar").to_string()).unwrap();
 
     assert_eq!(output, crate::mock::avatar());
 }
diff --git a/src/game.rs b/src/game.rs
index 2857623..50ac617 100644
--- a/src/game.rs
+++ b/src/game.rs
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ impl From<String> for Game {
             } else if segment.starts_with("TIL") {
                 tiles.push(Tile::from(segment));
             } else if segment.starts_with("SPR A") {
-                avatar = Some(Avatar::from(segment));
+                avatar = Some(Avatar::from(segment).unwrap());
             } else if segment.starts_with("SPR") {
                 sprites.push(Sprite::from(segment));
             } else if segment.starts_with("ITM") {