diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
index 84f5a89..dd3bf89 100644
--- a/.gitmodules
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
 [submodule "thirdparty/xxHash"]
 	path = thirdparty/xxHash
 	url = https://github.com/Cyan4973/xxHash.git
+[submodule "thirdparty/miniz"]
+	path = thirdparty/miniz
+	url = https://github.com/richgel999/miniz
diff --git a/librecomp/CMakeLists.txt b/librecomp/CMakeLists.txt
index 7318386..ce96ced 100644
--- a/librecomp/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/librecomp/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ add_library(librecomp STATIC
     "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/files.cpp"
     "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/flash.cpp"
     "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/math_routines.cpp"
+    "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/mods.cpp"
+    "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/mod_manifest.cpp"
     "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/overlays.cpp"
     "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/pak.cpp"
     "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/pi.cpp"
@@ -46,4 +48,7 @@ if (WIN32)
     add_compile_definitions(NOMINMAX)
 endif()
 
+add_subdirectory(${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/../thirdparty/miniz ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/miniz)
+
 target_link_libraries(librecomp PRIVATE ultramodern)
+target_link_libraries(librecomp PUBLIC miniz)
diff --git a/librecomp/include/librecomp/mods.hpp b/librecomp/include/librecomp/mods.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7b0f792
--- /dev/null
+++ b/librecomp/include/librecomp/mods.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+#ifndef __RECOMP_MODS_HPP__
+#define __RECOMP_MODS_HPP__
+
+#include <filesystem>
+#include <string>
+#include <fstream>
+#include <cstdio>
+#include <vector>
+#include <memory>
+
+#define MINIZ_NO_DEFLATE_APIS
+#define MINIZ_NO_ARCHIVE_WRITING_APIS
+#include "miniz.h"
+#include "miniz_zip.h"
+
+namespace recomp {
+    namespace mods {
+        enum class ModLoadError {
+            Good,
+            DoesNotExist,
+            NotAFile,
+            FileError,
+            InvalidZip,
+            NoManifest,
+            InvalidManifest,
+        };
+
+        struct ZipModHandle {
+            FILE* file_handle = nullptr;
+            std::unique_ptr<mz_zip_archive> archive;
+
+            ZipModHandle() = default;
+            ZipModHandle(const std::filesystem::path& mod_path, ModLoadError& error);
+            ZipModHandle(const ZipModHandle& rhs) = delete;
+            ZipModHandle& operator=(const ZipModHandle& rhs) = delete;
+            ZipModHandle(ZipModHandle&& rhs);
+            ZipModHandle& operator=(ZipModHandle&& rhs);
+            ~ZipModHandle();
+
+            std::vector<char> read_file(const std::string& filename, bool& exists);
+        };
+
+        struct ModManifest {
+            std::filesystem::path mod_root_path;
+
+            std::string mod_id;
+
+            int major_version;
+            int minor_version;
+            int patch_version;
+
+            // These are all relative to the base path for loose mods or inside the zip for zipped mods.
+            std::string binary_path;
+            std::string binary_syms_path;
+            std::string rom_patch_path;
+            std::string rom_patch_syms_path;
+
+            ZipModHandle mod_handle;
+        };
+
+        ModManifest load_mod(const std::filesystem::path& mod_path, ModLoadError& error);
+    }
+};
+
+#endif
diff --git a/librecomp/src/mod_manifest.cpp b/librecomp/src/mod_manifest.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4d6050b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/librecomp/src/mod_manifest.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,235 @@
+#include <unordered_map>
+
+#include "json/json.hpp"
+
+#include "librecomp/mods.hpp"
+
+recomp::mods::ZipModHandle::~ZipModHandle() {
+    if (file_handle) {
+        fclose(file_handle);
+        file_handle = nullptr;
+    }
+
+    if (archive) {
+        mz_zip_reader_end(archive.get());
+    }
+    archive = {};
+}
+
+recomp::mods::ZipModHandle::ZipModHandle(ZipModHandle&& rhs) {
+    *this = std::move(rhs);
+}
+
+recomp::mods::ZipModHandle& recomp::mods::ZipModHandle::operator=(ZipModHandle&& rhs) {
+    if (file_handle) {
+        fclose(file_handle);
+    }
+    file_handle = rhs.file_handle;
+    rhs.file_handle = nullptr;
+
+    mz_zip_reader_end(archive.get());
+    archive = std::move(rhs.archive);
+
+    return *this;
+}
+
+recomp::mods::ZipModHandle::ZipModHandle(const std::filesystem::path& mod_path, ModLoadError& error) {
+#ifdef _WIN32
+    if (_wfopen_s(&file_handle, mod_path.c_str(), L"rb") != 0) {
+        error = ModLoadError::FileError;
+        return;
+    }
+#else
+    file_handle = fopen(mod_path.c_str(), L"rb");
+    if (!file_handle) {
+        error = ModLoadError::FileError;
+        return;
+    }
+#endif
+    archive = std::make_unique<mz_zip_archive>();
+    if (!mz_zip_reader_init_cfile(archive.get(), file_handle, 0, 0)) {
+        error = ModLoadError::InvalidZip;
+        return;
+    }
+
+    error = ModLoadError::Good;
+}
+
+std::vector<char> recomp::mods::ZipModHandle::read_file(const std::string& filename, bool& exists) {
+    std::vector<char> ret{};
+    
+    mz_uint32 file_index;
+    if (!mz_zip_reader_locate_file_v2(archive.get(), filename.c_str(), nullptr, MZ_ZIP_FLAG_CASE_SENSITIVE, &file_index)) {
+        exists = false;
+        return ret;
+    }
+
+    mz_zip_archive_file_stat stat;
+    if (!mz_zip_reader_file_stat(archive.get(), file_index, &stat)) {
+        exists = false;
+        return ret;
+    }
+
+    ret.resize(stat.m_uncomp_size);
+    if (!mz_zip_reader_extract_to_mem(archive.get(), file_index, ret.data(), ret.size(), 0)) {
+        exists = false;
+        return {};
+    }
+
+    exists = true;
+    return ret;
+}
+
+enum class ManifestField {
+    Id,
+    MajorVersion,
+    MinorVersion,
+    PatchVersion,
+    BinaryPath,
+    BinarySymsPath,
+    RomPatchPath,
+    RomPatchSymsPath,
+    Invalid,
+};
+
+std::unordered_map<std::string, ManifestField> field_map {
+    { "id",             ManifestField::Id               },
+    { "major_version",  ManifestField::MajorVersion     },
+    { "minor_version",  ManifestField::MinorVersion     },
+    { "patch_version",  ManifestField::PatchVersion     },
+    { "binary",         ManifestField::BinaryPath       },
+    { "binary_syms",    ManifestField::BinarySymsPath   },
+    { "rom_patch",      ManifestField::RomPatchPath     },
+    { "rom_patch_syms", ManifestField::RomPatchSymsPath },
+};
+
+template <typename T1, typename T2>
+bool get_to(const nlohmann::json& val, T2& out) {
+    const T1* ptr = val.get_ptr<const T1*>();
+    if (ptr == nullptr) {
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    out = *ptr;
+    return true;
+}
+
+bool parse_manifest(recomp::mods::ModManifest& ret, const std::vector<char>& manifest_data) {
+    using json = nlohmann::json;
+    json manifest_json = json::parse(manifest_data.begin(), manifest_data.end(), false);
+
+    if (manifest_json.is_discarded()) {
+        // Failed to parse
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    if (!manifest_json.is_object()) {
+        // Invalid manifest
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    for (const auto& [key, val] : manifest_json.items()) {
+        const auto find_key_it = field_map.find(key);
+        if (find_key_it == field_map.end()) {
+            // Unrecognized field
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        ManifestField field = find_key_it->second;
+        switch (field) {
+            case ManifestField::Id:
+                if (!get_to<json::string_t>(val, ret.mod_id)) {
+                    // Invalid type
+                    return false;
+                }
+                break;
+            case ManifestField::MajorVersion:
+                if (!get_to<json::number_unsigned_t>(val, ret.major_version)) {
+                    // Invalid type
+                    return false;
+                }
+                break;
+            case ManifestField::MinorVersion:
+                if (!get_to<json::number_unsigned_t>(val, ret.minor_version)) {
+                    // Invalid type
+                    return false;
+                }
+                break;
+            case ManifestField::PatchVersion:
+                if (!get_to<json::number_unsigned_t>(val, ret.patch_version)) {
+                    // Invalid type
+                    return false;
+                }
+                break;
+            case ManifestField::BinaryPath:
+                if (!get_to<json::string_t>(val, ret.binary_path)) {
+                    // Invalid type
+                    return false;
+                }
+                break;
+            case ManifestField::BinarySymsPath:
+                if (!get_to<json::string_t>(val, ret.binary_syms_path)) {
+                    // Invalid type
+                    return false;
+                }
+                break;
+            case ManifestField::RomPatchPath:
+                if (!get_to<json::string_t>(val, ret.rom_patch_path)) {
+                    // Invalid type
+                    return false;
+                }
+                break;
+            case ManifestField::RomPatchSymsPath:
+                if (!get_to<json::string_t>(val, ret.rom_patch_syms_path)) {
+                    // Invalid type
+                    return false;
+                }
+                break;
+        }
+    }
+
+    return true;
+}
+
+recomp::mods::ModManifest recomp::mods::load_mod(const std::filesystem::path& mod_path, ModLoadError& error) {
+    ModManifest ret{};
+    std::error_code ec;
+
+    if (!std::filesystem::exists(mod_path, ec) || ec) {
+        error = ModLoadError::DoesNotExist;
+        return {};
+    }
+
+    // TODO support symlinks?
+    if (!std::filesystem::is_regular_file(mod_path, ec) || ec) {
+        error = ModLoadError::NotAFile;
+        return {};
+    }
+
+    // Load the zip file.
+    ModLoadError zip_error;
+    ret.mod_handle = recomp::mods::ZipModHandle(mod_path, zip_error);
+
+    if (zip_error != ModLoadError::Good) {
+        error = zip_error;
+        return {};
+    }
+
+    {
+        bool exists;
+        std::vector<char> manifest_data = ret.mod_handle.read_file("manifest.json", exists);
+        if (!exists) {
+            error = ModLoadError::NoManifest;
+            return {};
+        }
+
+        if (!parse_manifest(ret, manifest_data)) {
+            error = ModLoadError::InvalidManifest;
+            return {};
+        }
+    }
+
+    // Return the loaded mod manifest
+    error = ModLoadError::Good;
+    return ret;
+}
diff --git a/thirdparty/miniz b/thirdparty/miniz
new file mode 160000
index 0000000..8573fd7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/thirdparty/miniz
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Subproject commit 8573fd7cd6f49b262a0ccc447f3c6acfc415e556