diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 31d9520..18f9e84 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -2,6 +2,55 @@
 # It is not intended for manual editing.
 version = 3
 
+[[package]]
+name = "anstream"
+version = "0.6.15"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "64e15c1ab1f89faffbf04a634d5e1962e9074f2741eef6d97f3c4e322426d526"
+dependencies = [
+ "anstyle",
+ "anstyle-parse",
+ "anstyle-query",
+ "anstyle-wincon",
+ "colorchoice",
+ "is_terminal_polyfill",
+ "utf8parse",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "anstyle"
+version = "1.0.8"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "1bec1de6f59aedf83baf9ff929c98f2ad654b97c9510f4e70cf6f661d49fd5b1"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "anstyle-parse"
+version = "0.2.5"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "eb47de1e80c2b463c735db5b217a0ddc39d612e7ac9e2e96a5aed1f57616c1cb"
+dependencies = [
+ "utf8parse",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "anstyle-query"
+version = "1.1.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "6d36fc52c7f6c869915e99412912f22093507da8d9e942ceaf66fe4b7c14422a"
+dependencies = [
+ "windows-sys 0.52.0",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "anstyle-wincon"
+version = "3.0.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "5bf74e1b6e971609db8ca7a9ce79fd5768ab6ae46441c572e46cf596f59e57f8"
+dependencies = [
+ "anstyle",
+ "windows-sys 0.52.0",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "autocfg"
 version = "1.3.0"
@@ -26,6 +75,39 @@ version = "1.0.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "baf1de4339761588bc0619e3cbc0120ee582ebb74b53b4efbf79117bd2da40fd"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "clap"
+version = "4.5.20"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "b97f376d85a664d5837dbae44bf546e6477a679ff6610010f17276f686d867e8"
+dependencies = [
+ "clap_builder",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "clap_builder"
+version = "4.5.20"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "19bc80abd44e4bed93ca373a0704ccbd1b710dc5749406201bb018272808dc54"
+dependencies = [
+ "anstream",
+ "anstyle",
+ "clap_lex",
+ "strsim",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "clap_lex"
+version = "0.7.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "1462739cb27611015575c0c11df5df7601141071f07518d56fcc1be504cbec97"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "colorchoice"
+version = "1.0.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "d3fd119d74b830634cea2a0f58bbd0d54540518a14397557951e79340abc28c0"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "crossterm"
 version = "0.27.0"
@@ -62,6 +144,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "wasi",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "is_terminal_polyfill"
+version = "1.70.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "7943c866cc5cd64cbc25b2e01621d07fa8eb2a1a23160ee81ce38704e97b8ecf"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "libc"
 version = "0.2.159"
@@ -93,7 +181,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "libc",
  "log",
  "wasi",
- "windows-sys",
+ "windows-sys 0.48.0",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -195,6 +283,7 @@ checksum = "94143f37725109f92c262ed2cf5e59bce7498c01bcc1502d7b9afe439a4e9f49"
 name = "shdoku"
 version = "0.1.0"
 dependencies = [
+ "clap",
  "crossterm",
  "rand",
 ]
@@ -235,6 +324,12 @@ version = "1.13.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "3c5e1a9a646d36c3599cd173a41282daf47c44583ad367b8e6837255952e5c67"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "strsim"
+version = "0.11.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "7da8b5736845d9f2fcb837ea5d9e2628564b3b043a70948a3f0b778838c5fb4f"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "syn"
 version = "2.0.77"
@@ -252,6 +347,12 @@ version = "1.0.13"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "e91b56cd4cadaeb79bbf1a5645f6b4f8dc5bde8834ad5894a8db35fda9efa1fe"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "utf8parse"
+version = "0.2.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "06abde3611657adf66d383f00b093d7faecc7fa57071cce2578660c9f1010821"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "wasi"
 version = "0.11.0+wasi-snapshot-preview1"
@@ -289,6 +390,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "windows-targets 0.48.5",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "windows-sys"
+version = "0.52.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "282be5f36a8ce781fad8c8ae18fa3f9beff57ec1b52cb3de0789201425d9a33d"
+dependencies = [
+ "windows-targets 0.52.6",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "windows-targets"
 version = "0.48.5"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 5094f1c..b78d7a8 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ keywords = ["sudoku", "tui", "game", "crossterm"]
 categories = ["games", "mathematics", "science", "algorithms"]
 
 [dependencies]
+clap = "4.5.20"
 crossterm = "0.27.0"
 rand = "0.8.5"
 
diff --git a/src/cli.rs b/src/cli.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..299fb51
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/cli.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+use clap::{Arg, Command};
+
+pub fn new() -> Command {
+    Command::new("shdoku")
+        .about("A terminal sudoku game with vim-like controls")
+        .arg(
+            Arg::new("difficulty")
+                .short('d')
+                .value_name("easy|mid|hard|expert|0..81")
+                .long("difficulty")
+                .help("Defined difficulty levels or a custom number of blank spaces"),
+        )
+}
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 858caa4..dc1c254 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ use crossterm::event::{poll, read, Event::*, KeyCode::*};
 
 extern crate rand;
 
+mod cli;
 mod state;
 mod sudoku;
 mod ui;
@@ -11,8 +12,14 @@ use {state::*, sudoku::*, ui::*};
 use std::{io, time::Duration};
 
 fn main() {
+    let args = cli::new().get_matches();
+    let difficulty = match args.get_one::<String>("difficulty") {
+        None => Difficulty::Mid,
+        Some(d) => d.parse().unwrap(),
+    };
+
     let mut screen = Ui::init(io::stdout());
-    let mut state = State::init(Difficulty::Mid);
+    let mut state = State::init(difficulty);
     screen.draw_static_elements().or_crash();
 
     loop {
diff --git a/src/sudoku/generator.rs b/src/sudoku/generator.rs
index b35d797..2d100c2 100644
--- a/src/sudoku/generator.rs
+++ b/src/sudoku/generator.rs
@@ -32,6 +32,23 @@ impl Difficulty {
     }
 }
 
+impl std::str::FromStr for Difficulty {
+    type Err = String;
+    fn from_str(s: &str) -> Result<Self, Self::Err> {
+        match s.to_lowercase().as_str() {
+            "easy" => Ok(Difficulty::Easy),
+            "mid" => Ok(Difficulty::Mid),
+            "hard" => Ok(Difficulty::Hard),
+            "expert" => Ok(Difficulty::Expert),
+            _ => Err(()),
+        }
+        .or_else(|_| match s.parse::<usize>() {
+            Ok(x) if x <= 81 => Ok(Difficulty::Custom(x)),
+            _ => Err(format!("Unable to parse difficulty: '{s}'...\nIs it a valid difficulty or number between 0 and 81?"))
+        })
+    }
+}
+
 impl fmt::Display for Difficulty {
     fn fmt(&self, f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> fmt::Result {
         match self {