diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 3ef2f56..c58fdff 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ mod mock;
 mod music;
 mod palette;
 mod scene;
+mod tile;
 
 pub use colour::Colour;
 pub use config::Config;
diff --git a/src/test-resources/basic/tiles/avatar.toml b/src/test-resources/basic/tiles/avatar.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3ac6a9c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test-resources/basic/tiles/avatar.toml
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+images = ["avatar"]
diff --git a/src/tile.rs b/src/tile.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9c77387
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tile.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+use serde_derive::{Serialize, Deserialize};
+use std::path::PathBuf;
+use std::fs::read_to_string;
+
+#[derive(Debug, Eq, PartialEq, Serialize, Deserialize)]
+pub struct Tile {
+    pub name: String,
+    /// these will animate
+    /// todo should there be animation options? reverse, random, etc?
+    /// todo do we need a "current frame" property or leave that up to the player implementation?
+    pub images: Vec<String>,
+}
+
+impl Tile {
+    pub fn from_file(path: PathBuf) -> Tile {
+        let name = path.file_stem().unwrap().to_str().unwrap().into();
+
+        let intermediate: IntermediateTile = toml::from_str(
+            &read_to_string(path).unwrap()
+        ).unwrap();
+
+        Tile { name, images: intermediate.images }
+    }
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug, Eq, PartialEq, Serialize, Deserialize)]
+struct IntermediateTile {
+    images: Vec<String>,
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod test {
+    use std::path::PathBuf;
+    use crate::tile::Tile;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn tile_from_file() {
+        let path = PathBuf::from("src/test-resources/basic/tiles/avatar.toml");
+        let output = Tile::from_file(path);
+        let expected = Tile { name: "avatar".into(), images: vec!["avatar".to_string()] };
+        assert_eq!(output, expected);
+    }
+}