diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 988b844..d199de0 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -108,6 +108,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "rand",
  "specs",
  "specs-derive",
+ "thiserror",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -506,6 +507,26 @@ dependencies = [
  "unicode-xid",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "thiserror"
+version = "1.0.30"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "854babe52e4df1653706b98fcfc05843010039b406875930a70e4d9644e5c417"
+dependencies = [
+ "thiserror-impl",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "thiserror-impl"
+version = "1.0.30"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "aa32fd3f627f367fe16f893e2597ae3c05020f8bba2666a4e6ea73d377e5714b"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "tuple_utils"
 version = "0.3.0"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 759a63c..3e3444e 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -13,3 +13,4 @@ rand = "0.8.4"
 grid = "0.6.0"
 float-ord = "0.3.2"
 pathfinding = "3"
+thiserror = "1"
diff --git a/src/io.rs b/src/io.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4562ee1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/io.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+//! Pancurses boilerplate code.
+
+use std::process::exit;
+
+use pancurses::{
+    endwin, has_colors, init_pair, initscr, noecho, start_color, ColorPair, Window, COLORS,
+    COLOR_PAIRS,
+};
+use thiserror::Error;
+
+/// Initializes the terminal to accept user input, and creates a new
+/// Window.
+pub fn init_window() -> Window {
+    // Create a new window over the terminal.
+    let window = initscr();
+
+    // Enable keypad mode (off by default for historical reasons), so
+    // we can read special keycodes other than just characters.
+    window.keypad(true);
+
+    // Disable echoing so the user doesn't see flickering in the
+    // upper-left corner of the screen when they type a character.
+    noecho();
+
+    // // Set up a color palette. TODO
+    // init_colors().unwrap();
+    let c = init_colors();
+    if let Err(e) = c {
+        endwin();
+        println!("{}", e);
+        panic!();
+    }
+
+    window
+}
+
+/// Cleans everything up and exits the game.
+pub fn quit() -> ! {
+    endwin();
+
+    exit(0)
+}
+
+/// The colors on a terminal.
+#[allow(unused)]
+pub enum Color {
+    Black = 0,
+    Red = 1,
+    Green = 2,
+    Brown = 3,
+    Blue = 4,
+    Magenta = 5,
+    Cyan = 6,
+    White = 7,
+}
+
+#[derive(Error, Debug)]
+enum ColorError {
+    #[error("colors not supported")]
+    NoColors,
+
+    #[error("too few colors (have {0}, need 8)")]
+    NotEnoughColors(u32),
+
+    #[error("too few color slots (have {0}, need 8)")]
+    NotEnoughSlots(u32),
+}
+
+fn init_colors() -> Result<(), ColorError> {
+    assert_eq!(start_color(), 0);
+    if !has_colors() {
+        Err(ColorError::NoColors)
+    } else if COLORS() < 8 {
+        Err(ColorError::NotEnoughColors(COLORS() as _))
+    } else if COLOR_PAIRS() < 8 {
+        Err(ColorError::NotEnoughSlots(COLOR_PAIRS() as _))
+    } else {
+        for n in 0..8 {
+            init_pair(n, n, Color::Black as _);
+        }
+
+        Ok(())
+    }
+}
+
+pub fn set_color(win: &Window, c: Color) {
+    // This gets called for every single character; could be a
+    // performance bottleneck depending on how ncurses implements it.
+    if has_colors() {
+        win.attron(ColorPair(c as _));
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/level.rs b/src/level.rs
index e72a3e9..e0ff253 100644
--- a/src/level.rs
+++ b/src/level.rs
@@ -4,10 +4,7 @@ use pancurses::Window;
 use rand::Rng;
 use specs::prelude::*;
 
-use crate::{
-    components::{CharRender, Position},
-    rooms,
-};
+use crate::{components::{CharRender, Position}, io::{Color, set_color}, rooms};
 
 /// The size of a dungeon level, in tiles.
 pub const LEVEL_SIZE: (usize, usize) = (80, 24);
@@ -108,6 +105,12 @@ impl DungeonLevel {
         for y in 0..LEVEL_SIZE.1 {
             win.mv(y as _, 0);
             for x in 0..LEVEL_SIZE.0 {
+                if (x + y) % 2 == 0 {
+                    set_color(win, Color::Cyan);
+                } else {
+                    set_color(win, Color::Red);
+                }
+
                 win.addch(if filter((x as _, y as _)) {
                     self.render_tile(x, y)
                 } else {
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 991808f..acc8efa 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -1,15 +1,14 @@
-use std::process::exit;
-
 use components::{register_all, CharRender, MobAction, Mobile, Player, Position, TurnTaker};
+use io::init_window;
 use level::DungeonLevel;
 
-use pancurses::{endwin, initscr, noecho, Window};
 use player::player_turn;
 use rand::thread_rng;
 use specs::prelude::*;
 use systems::{MobSystem, TimeSystem};
 
 mod components;
+mod io;
 mod level;
 mod player;
 mod rooms;
@@ -65,27 +64,3 @@ fn main() {
         }
     }
 }
-
-/// Initializes the terminal to accept user input, and creates a new
-/// Window.
-fn init_window() -> Window {
-    // Create a new window over the terminal.
-    let window = initscr();
-
-    // Enable keypad mode (off by default for historical reasons), so
-    // we can read special keycodes other than just characters.
-    window.keypad(true);
-
-    // Disable echoing so the user doesn't see flickering in the
-    // upper-left corner of the screen when they type a character.
-    noecho();
-
-    window
-}
-
-/// Cleans everything up and exits the game.
-fn quit() -> ! {
-    endwin();
-
-    exit(0)
-}
diff --git a/src/player.rs b/src/player.rs
index 053ad1b..7a02814 100644
--- a/src/player.rs
+++ b/src/player.rs
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ use specs::prelude::*;
 use crate::{
     components::{CharRender, MobAction, Mobile, Player, Position},
     level::DungeonLevel,
-    quit,
+    io::quit,
     visibility::{visible, CellVisibility, Lighting},
 };