diff --git a/include/ply.h b/include/ply.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..03cdf86
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/ply.h
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+#ifndef PLY_H
+#define PLY_H
+
+typedef enum {
+  PLY_FORMAT_INVALID = -1,
+  PLY_FORMAT_ASCII,
+  PLY_FORMAT_LE,
+  PLY_FORMAT_BE,
+} PlyFormatType;
+
+typedef enum {
+  PLY_HEADER_INVALID = -1,
+  PLY_HEADER_COMMENT,
+  PLY_HEADER_END,
+  PLY_HEADER_ELEMENT,
+  PLY_HEADER_PROPERTY,
+} PlyHeaderType;
+
+typedef enum {
+  PLY_TYPE_INVALID = -1,
+  PLY_TYPE_CHAR,
+  PLY_TYPE_UCHAR,
+  PLY_TYPE_SHORT,
+  PLY_TYPE_USHORT,
+  PLY_TYPE_INT,
+  PLY_TYPE_UINT,
+  PLY_TYPE_FLOAT,
+  PLY_TYPE_DOUBLE,
+} PlyPropertyType;
+
+typedef struct PlyPropertyStruct {
+  char* name;
+  PlyPropertyType count;
+  PlyPropertyType element;
+
+  void* elements;
+  void* counts;
+  struct PlyPropertyStruct* next;
+} PlyProperty;
+
+typedef struct PlyElementStruct {
+  char* name;
+  int   count;
+  PlyProperty* properties;
+
+  struct PlyElementStruct* next;
+} PlyElement;
+
+PlyElement* ply_load_mesh(char* filename);
+void ply_free_mesh(PlyElement* elements_head);
+
+#endif
diff --git a/src/main.c b/src/main.c
index cd71da4..ab5e6c0 100644
--- a/src/main.c
+++ b/src/main.c
@@ -14,11 +14,14 @@
 #include <cglm/quat.h>
 #include <cglm/cam.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
 #include <string.h>
 
 #define CGLTF_IMPLEMENTATION
 #include <cgltf.h>
 
+#include <ply.h>
+
 typedef struct QueueIndicesStruct {
   uint32_t graphics_family;
   uint32_t graphics_index;
@@ -3205,7 +3208,7 @@ VkResult draw_frame(VulkanContext* context, SceneContext* scene, uint32_t materi
 Object create_simple_mesh_object(Material* simple_mesh_material, VkPhysicalDeviceMemoryProperties memories, VkDevice device, VkCommandPool transfer_pool, VkQueue transfer_queue, uint32_t max_frames_in_flight, VkDescriptorPool pool) {
   Object zero = {};
 
-  Mesh* mesh = load_simple_mesh(memories, device, vertices, 4, indices, 6, transfer_pool, transfer_queue);
+  Mesh* mesh = load_simple_mesh(memories, device, (struct Vertex*)vertices, 4, (uint16*)indices, 6, transfer_pool, transfer_queue);
   if(mesh == 0) {
     return zero;
   }
@@ -3577,9 +3580,9 @@ void cleanup(GLFWwindow* window, VulkanContext* context) {
 }
 
 int main() {
-  struct VertexMesh* loaded_gltf = load_vertex_gltf("spaceship.glb");
-  if(loaded_gltf == 0) {
-    fprintf(stderr, "failed to load gltf %s\n", "spaceship.glb");
+  PlyElement* monkey = ply_load_mesh("monkey.ply");
+  if(monkey == 0) {
+    fprintf(stderr, "failed to load %s\n", "monkey.ply");
     return -1;
   }
 
diff --git a/src/ply.c b/src/ply.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..82dc8b0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ply.c
@@ -0,0 +1,289 @@
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <ply.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+
+char* ply_formats[] = {
+  "ascii",
+  "binary_little_endian",
+  "binary_big_endian"
+};
+
+char* ply_header_items[] = {
+  "comment",
+  "end_header",
+  "element",
+  "property",
+};
+
+char* ply_type_strings[] = {
+  "char",
+  "uchar",
+  "short",
+  "ushort",
+  "int",
+  "uint",
+  "float",
+  "double",
+};
+
+size_t ply_type_sizes[] = {
+  1,
+  1,
+  2,
+  2,
+  4,
+  4,
+  4,
+  8,
+};
+
+PlyPropertyType ply_parse_type(const char* type_string) {
+  for(uint32_t i = 0; i < sizeof(ply_type_strings)/sizeof(char*); i++) {
+    if(strcmp(ply_type_strings[i], type_string) == 0) {
+      return i;
+    }
+  }
+  return PLY_TYPE_INVALID;
+}
+
+void ply_free_mesh(PlyElement* elements_head) {
+  PlyElement* elem = elements_head;
+  while(elem != NULL) {
+    PlyProperty* prop = elem->properties;
+    while(prop != NULL) {
+      if(prop->count == PLY_TYPE_INVALID) {
+        if(prop->elements != NULL) {
+          free(prop->elements);
+        }
+      } else {
+        if(prop->elements != NULL) {
+          void** lists = prop->elements;
+          for(int i = 0; i < elem->count; i++) {
+            if(lists[i] != NULL) {
+              free(lists[i]);
+            }
+          }
+          free(prop->elements);
+        }
+
+        if(prop->counts != NULL) {
+          free(prop->counts);
+        }
+
+        if(prop->name != NULL) {
+          free(prop->name);
+        }
+      }
+      PlyProperty* last = prop;
+      prop = prop->next;
+      free(last);
+    }
+
+    if(elem->name != NULL) {
+      free(elem->name);
+    }
+
+    PlyElement* last = elem;
+    elem = elem->next;
+    free(last);
+  }
+}
+
+PlyElement* ply_load_mesh(char* filename) {
+  FILE* ply = fopen(filename, "r");
+  if(ply == NULL) {
+    fprintf(stderr, "file not found %s\n", filename);
+    return NULL;
+  }
+
+  uint8_t buffer[1024] = {0};
+  char magic[] = {'p', 'l', 'y', '\n'};
+  int read = fread(buffer, 1, sizeof(magic), ply);
+  if(read != sizeof(magic)) {
+    fprintf(stderr, "magic not read\n");
+    goto close;
+  } else if (memcmp(buffer, magic, sizeof(magic)) != 0) {
+    fprintf(stderr, "magic not match\n");
+    goto close;
+  }
+
+  char* line = fgets((char*)buffer, 1024, ply);
+  if(line == NULL) {
+    fprintf(stderr, "file read err\n");
+    goto close;
+  }
+
+  char* format_str = "format ";
+  if(memcmp(format_str, line, 7) != 0) {
+    fprintf(stderr, "format start not found\n");
+    goto close;
+  }
+
+  char* format_start = &line[7];
+  PlyFormatType format_id = PLY_FORMAT_INVALID;
+  for(uint32_t i = 0; i < sizeof(ply_formats)/sizeof(char*); i++) {
+    if(memcmp(format_start, ply_formats[i], strlen(ply_formats[i])) == 0) {
+      format_id = i;
+      break;
+    }
+  }
+
+  if(format_id == PLY_FORMAT_INVALID) {
+    fprintf(stderr, "unknown format %s\n", line);
+    goto close;
+  }
+
+  PlyElement* elements_head = NULL;
+  PlyElement* element = NULL;
+
+  while(1) {
+    char* line = fgets((char*)buffer, 1024, ply);
+    PlyHeaderType header_id = PLY_HEADER_INVALID;
+    for(uint32_t i = 0; i < sizeof(ply_header_items)/sizeof(char*); i++) {
+      if(memcmp(line, ply_header_items[i], strlen(ply_header_items[i])) == 0) {
+        header_id = i;
+        break;
+      }
+    }
+
+    if(header_id == PLY_FORMAT_INVALID) {
+      fprintf(stderr, "unknown header line: %s\n", line);
+      goto close;
+    } else if (header_id == PLY_HEADER_COMMENT) {
+      continue;
+    } else if (header_id == PLY_HEADER_END) {
+      break;
+    } else if (header_id == PLY_HEADER_ELEMENT) {
+      PlyElement* new_element = malloc(sizeof(PlyElement));
+      new_element->next = NULL;
+      new_element->properties = NULL;
+
+      char* first = strtok((char*)buffer, " ");
+      (void)first;
+      char* name = strtok(NULL, " ");
+      char* count = strtok(NULL, " ");
+      if(name == NULL || count == NULL) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "BAD_ELEMENT: %s\n", line);
+        goto clean;
+      }
+      unsigned long name_len = strlen(name) + 1;
+      new_element->name = malloc(name_len);
+      memcpy(new_element->name, name, name_len);
+
+      new_element->count = atoi(count);
+
+      if(elements_head == NULL) {
+        elements_head = new_element;
+        element = new_element;
+      } else {
+        element->next = new_element;
+        element = new_element;
+      }
+    } else if (header_id == PLY_HEADER_PROPERTY) {
+      if(element == NULL) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "parsed property before any element\n");
+        goto clean;
+      }
+      PlyProperty* new_property = malloc(sizeof(PlyProperty));
+      new_property->name = NULL;
+      new_property->count = PLY_TYPE_INVALID;
+      new_property->element = PLY_TYPE_INVALID;
+      new_property->next = NULL;
+      new_property->elements = NULL;
+      new_property->counts = NULL;
+
+      char* extra = strtok((char*)buffer, " ");
+      (void)extra;
+
+      char* type_str = strtok(NULL, " ");
+      if(strcmp(type_str, "list") == 0) {
+        type_str = strtok(NULL, " ");
+        new_property->count = ply_parse_type(type_str);
+        type_str = strtok(NULL, " ");
+      }
+
+      new_property->element = ply_parse_type(type_str);
+
+      type_str = strtok(NULL, " ");
+      char* name = strtok(type_str, "\n");
+      if(name == NULL) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "invalid property\n");
+        goto clean;
+      }
+
+      unsigned long name_len = strlen(name) + 1;
+      new_property->name = malloc(name_len);
+      memcpy(new_property->name, name, name_len);
+
+      PlyProperty* cur = element->properties;
+      if(cur == NULL) {
+        element->properties = new_property;
+      } else {
+        while(cur->next != NULL) {
+          cur = cur->next;
+        }
+        cur->next = new_property;
+      }
+    }
+
+    if(line == NULL) {
+      goto close;
+    }
+  }
+
+  PlyElement* elem = elements_head;
+  while(elem != NULL) {
+    PlyProperty* prop = elem->properties;
+    while(prop != NULL) {
+      if(prop->count == PLY_TYPE_INVALID) {
+        prop->elements = malloc(ply_type_sizes[prop->element]*elem->count);
+        prop->counts = NULL;
+      } else {
+        prop->elements = malloc(sizeof(void*)*elem->count);
+        prop->counts = malloc(sizeof(ply_type_sizes[prop->count])*elem->count);
+      }
+      prop = prop->next;
+    }
+
+    for(int i = 0; i < elem->count; i++) {
+      PlyProperty* prop = elem->properties;
+      while(prop != NULL) {
+        if(prop->count == PLY_TYPE_INVALID) {
+          int read = fread(prop->elements + (i*ply_type_sizes[prop->element]), ply_type_sizes[prop->element], 1, ply);
+          if(read != 1) {
+            fprintf(stderr, "prop read error\n");
+            goto clean;
+          }
+        } else {
+          uint64_t size = 0;
+          uint64_t read = fread(&size, ply_type_sizes[prop->count], 1, ply);
+          if(read != 1) {
+            fprintf(stderr, "prop read error\n");
+            goto clean;
+          }
+
+          memcpy(prop->counts + (i*ply_type_sizes[prop->count]), &size, ply_type_sizes[prop->count]);
+          void* elements = malloc(ply_type_sizes[prop->element]*size);
+          read = fread(elements, ply_type_sizes[prop->element], size, ply);
+          if(read != size) {
+            fprintf(stderr, "prop read error\n");
+            goto clean;
+          }
+          memcpy(prop->elements + (i*sizeof(void*)), &elements, sizeof(void*));
+        }
+        prop = prop->next;
+      }
+    }
+    elem = elem->next;
+  }
+
+  fclose(ply);
+  return elements_head;
+
+clean:
+  ply_free_mesh(elements_head);
+close:
+  fclose(ply);
+  return NULL;
+}