diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 34c6163..a982432 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -1,9 +1,134 @@
+sudo: false
 language: rust
-os:
-    - linux
-    - osx
+cache: cargo
+
+env:
+  global:
+    # this will be part of the release tarball
+    - PROJECT_NAME=colonize
+    - RUST_BACKTRACE=1
+    # override the default '--features unstable' used for the nightly branch
+    - TRAVIS_CARGO_NIGHTLY_FEATURE="nightly-testing"
+    # encrypted Github token for doc upload
+    - secure: "OtcCEFBniy4i89KaFKEOct+JsTQF3W3+6SYWlcB4FEvljRwwpAMWzpqoHQhfNLPQiX07Da+IlKrhM5wt2PPF80dEzyIxiK6Y/fJFgd0peAkbKYwqrgoS80WoqSHYBR8STb+X6JlhxxX+/pma+ILBBFQ6UH01KEHGISlHq4ARw58="
+# the following are necessary for `travis-cargo coveralls --no-sudo`
+addons:
+  apt:
+    packages:
+      - libcurl4-openssl-dev
+      - libelf-dev
+      - libdw-dev
+      - binutils-dev # optional: only required for the --verify flag of coveralls
+
+matrix:
+  fast_finish: true
+  allow_failures:
+    - rust: nightly
+  include:
+    # stable channel
+    - os: osx
+      rust: stable
+      env: TARGET=i686-apple-darwin
+    - os: linux
+      rust: stable
+      env: TARGET=i686-unknown-linux-gnu
+      addons:
+        apt:
+          packages: &i686_unknown_linux_gnu
+            # Cross compiler and cross compiled C libraries
+            - gcc-multilib
+            # freetype library
+            - libfreetype6-dev:i386
+    - os: linux
+      rust: stable
+      env: TARGET=x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
+    # beta channel
+    - os: osx
+      rust: beta
+      env: TARGET=i686-apple-darwin
+    - os: linux
+      rust: beta
+      env: TARGET=i686-unknown-linux-gnu
+      addons:
+        apt:
+          packages: *i686_unknown_linux_gnu
+    - os: linux
+      rust: beta
+      env: TARGET=x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
+    # nightly channel
+    - os: osx
+      rust: nightly
+      env: TARGET=i686-apple-darwin
+    - os: linux
+      rust: nightly
+      env: TARGET=i686-unknown-linux-gnu
+      addons:
+        apt:
+          packages: *i686_unknown_linux_gnu
+    - os: linux
+      rust: nightly
+      env: TARGET=x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
+
+before_install:
+  - |
+      export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/.cargo/bin"
+      if [[ "$TRAVIS_OS_NAME" == "osx" ]]; then
+        brew update &&
+        brew install freetype
+      fi
+
 install:
-    - sudo apt-get update
-    - sudo apt-get install gcc g++ make upx electric-fence libsdl1.2-dev mercurial
+  - bash ci/install.sh
+
+before_script:
+  # load travis-cargo
+  - |
+      pip install 'travis-cargo<0.2' --user &&
+      if [[ "$TRAVIS_OS_NAME" == "linux" ]]; then
+        export PATH=$HOME/.local/bin/:$PATH
+      else
+        export PATH=$HOME/Library/Python/2.7/bin:$PATH
+      fi
+
+# the main build
 script:
-    - cargo build -v
+  - bash ci/script.sh
+
+after_success:
+  # upload the documentation from the build with stable (automatically only
+  # actually runs from the master branch, not individual PRs)
+  - travis-cargo --only stable doc-upload
+  # measure code coverage and upload to coveralls.io (the verify argument
+  # mitigates kcov crashes due to malformed debuginfo, at the cost of some
+  # speed. <https://github.com/huonw/travis-cargo/issues/12>)
+  - travis-cargo coveralls --no-sudo --verify
+
+before_deploy:
+  - bash ci/before_deploy.sh
+
+deploy:
+  provider: releases
+  api_key:
+    # secure Github token for release upload
+    secure: "OtcCEFBniy4i89KaFKEOct+JsTQF3W3+6SYWlcB4FEvljRwwpAMWzpqoHQhfNLPQiX07Da+IlKrhM5wt2PPF80dEzyIxiK6Y/fJFgd0peAkbKYwqrgoS80WoqSHYBR8STb+X6JlhxxX+/pma+ILBBFQ6UH01KEHGISlHq4ARw58="
+  file_glob: true
+  file: ${PROJECT_NAME}-${TRAVIS_TAG}-${TARGET}.*
+  # don't delete the artifacts from previous phases
+  skip_cleanup: true
+  on:
+    # channel to use to produce the release artifacts
+    condition: $TRAVIS_RUST_VERSION = stable
+    tags: true
+
+branches:
+  only:
+    - master
+    - auto
+    # Ruby regex to match tags. Required to Travis won't trigger deploys when a
+    # new tag is pushed. This regex matches semantic versions like
+    # v1.2.3-rc4+2016.02.22
+    - /^v\d+\.\d+\.\d+.*$/
+
+notifications:
+  email:
+    on_success: never
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ce390b1..d510da3 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,13 +1,38 @@
-# colonize [![Build Status](https://travis-ci.org/indiv0/colonize.svg?branch=master)](https://travis-ci.org/indiv0/colonize)
+# colonize
 
-A Dwarf-Fortress/Rogue-like game written in Rust.
+<table>
+    <tr>
+        <td><strong>Linux / OS X</strong></td>
+        <td><a href="https://travis-ci.org/indiv0/colonize" title="Travis Build Status"><img src="https://travis-ci.org/indiv0/colonize.svg?branch=master" alt="travis-badge"></img></a></td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+        <td colspan="2">
+            <a href="https://indiv0.github.io/colonize/colonize" title="API Docs"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/API-docs-blue.svg" alt="api-docs-badge"></img></a>
+            <a href="https://crates.io/crates/colonize" title="Crates.io"><img src="https://img.shields.io/crates/v/colonize.svg" alt="crates-io"></img></a>
+            <a href="https://coveralls.io/github/indiv0/colonize?branch=master" title="Coverage Status"><img src="https://coveralls.io/repos/github/indiv0/colonize/badge.svg?branch=master" alt="coveralls-badge"></img></a>
+        </td>
+    </tr>
+</table>
 
-## Prerequisites
+A Dwarf-Fortress/Rimworld-like game written in Rust.
+
+# Table of Contents
+
+* [Running Precompiled Binaries](#running-precompiled-binaries)
+* [Compiling & Running From Source](#compiling-and-running-from-source)
+* [Configuration](#configuration)
+
+## Running Precompiled Binaries
+
+Pre-compiled binaries for each of the major targets can be found on the releases
+page, [here][latest-release].
+
+## Compiling & Running From Source
+### Prerequisites
 
 * [rust](https://www.rust-lang.org)
-* [libtcod](http://roguecentral.org/doryen/libtcod/)
 
-## Compiling
+### Compiling
 
 Compiling on Rustc stable:
 
@@ -21,7 +46,7 @@ Compiling on Rustc nightly:
 cargo build --no-default-features --features nightly
 ```
 
-## Running
+### Running
 
 Running on Rustc stable:
 
@@ -47,4 +72,5 @@ the root of this repo as [`colonize.json.example`][colonize-json-example].
 
 In the future, the capability to define the config directory might be added.
 
-[colonize-json-example]: https://github.com/indiv0/colonize/blob/master/colonize.json.example
+[colonize-json-example]: https://github.com/indiv0/colonize/blob/master/colonize.json.example "Example configuration"
+[latest-release]: https://github.com/indiv0/colonize/releases/latest "Latest release"
diff --git a/ci/before_deploy.sh b/ci/before_deploy.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..5883d49
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci/before_deploy.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+# `before_deploy` phase: here we package the build artifacts
+
+set -ex
+
+. $(dirname $0)/utils.sh
+
+# Generate artifacts for release
+mk_artifacts() {
+    cargo rustc --target $TARGET --release -- -C link_args="-s" -C opt-level=3
+}
+
+mk_tarball() {
+    # create a "staging" directory
+    local td=$(mktempd)
+    local out_dir=$(pwd)
+
+    # NOTE All Cargo build artifacts will be under the 'target/$TARGET/{debug,release}'
+    cp target/$TARGET/release/colonize $td
+
+    pushd $td
+
+    # release tarball will look like 'rust-everywhere-v1.2.3-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz'
+    tar czf $out_dir/${PROJECT_NAME}-${TRAVIS_TAG}-${TARGET}.tar.gz *
+
+    popd
+    rm -r $td
+}
+
+# Package your artifacts in a .deb file
+# NOTE right now you can only package binaries using the `dobin` command. Simply call
+# `dobin [file..]` to include one or more binaries in your .deb package. I'll add more commands to
+# install other things like manpages (`doman`) as the needs arise.
+# XXX This .deb packaging is minimal -- just to make your app installable via `dpkg` -- and doesn't
+# fully conform to Debian packaging guideliens (`lintian` raises a few warnings/errors)
+mk_deb() {
+    # TODO update this part to package the artifacts that make sense for your project
+    dobin target/$TARGET/release/colonize
+}
+
+main() {
+    mk_artifacts
+    mk_tarball
+
+    if [ $TRAVIS_OS_NAME = linux ]; then
+        if [ ! -z $MAKE_DEB ]; then
+            dtd=$(mktempd)
+            mkdir -p $dtd/debian/usr/bin
+
+            mk_deb
+
+            mkdir -p $dtd/debian/DEBIAN
+            cat >$dtd/debian/DEBIAN/control <<EOF
+Package: $PROJECT_NAME
+Version: ${TRAVIS_TAG#v}
+Architecture: $(architecture $TARGET)
+Maintainer: $DEB_MAINTAINER
+Description: $DEB_DESCRIPTION
+EOF
+
+            fakeroot dpkg-deb --build $dtd/debian
+            mv $dtd/debian.deb $PROJECT_NAME-$TRAVIS_TAG-$TARGET.deb
+            rm -r $dtd
+        fi
+    fi
+}
+
+main
diff --git a/ci/install.sh b/ci/install.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..3b3f28d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci/install.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+# `install` phase: install stuff needed for the `script` phase
+
+set -ex
+
+. $(dirname $0)/utils.sh
+
+install_c_toolchain() {
+    case $TARGET in
+        aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu)
+            sudo apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
+                 gcc-aarch64-linux-gnu libc6-arm64-cross libc6-dev-arm64-cross
+            ;;
+        *)
+            # For other targets, this is handled by addons.apt.packages in .travis.yml
+            ;;
+    esac
+}
+
+install_rustup() {
+    # uninstall the rust toolchain installed by travis, we are going to use rustup
+    sh ~/rust/lib/rustlib/uninstall.sh
+
+    curl https://sh.rustup.rs -sSf | sh -s -- -y --default-toolchain=$TRAVIS_RUST_VERSION
+
+    rustc -V
+    cargo -V
+}
+
+install_standard_crates() {
+    if [ $(host) != "$TARGET" ]; then
+        rustup target add $TARGET
+    fi
+}
+
+configure_cargo() {
+    local prefix=$(gcc_prefix)
+
+    if [ ! -z $prefix ]; then
+        # information about the cross compiler
+        ${prefix}gcc -v
+
+        # tell cargo which linker to use for cross compilation
+        mkdir -p .cargo
+        cat >>.cargo/config <<EOF
+[target.$TARGET]
+linker = "${prefix}gcc"
+EOF
+    fi
+}
+
+main() {
+    install_c_toolchain
+    install_rustup
+    install_standard_crates
+    configure_cargo
+
+    # TODO if you need to install extra stuff add it here
+}
+
+main
diff --git a/ci/script.sh b/ci/script.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..1ee20d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci/script.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+# `script` phase: you usually build, test and generate docs in this phase
+
+set -ex
+
+. $(dirname $0)/utils.sh
+
+# NOTE Workaround for rust-lang/rust#31907 - disable doc tests when cross compiling
+# This has been fixed in the nightly channel but it would take a while to reach the other channels
+disable_cross_doctests() {
+    if [ $(host) != "$TARGET" ] && [ "$TRAVIS_RUST_VERSION" = "stable" ]; then
+        if [ "$TRAVIS_OS_NAME" = "osx" ]; then
+            brew install gnu-sed --default-names
+        fi
+
+        find src -name '*.rs' -type f | xargs sed -i -e 's:\(//.\s*```\):\1 ignore,:g'
+    fi
+}
+
+# PROTIP Always pass `--target $TARGET` to cargo commands, this makes cargo output build artifacts
+# to target/$TARGET/{debug,release} which can reduce the number of needed conditionals in the
+# `before_deploy`/packaging phase
+run_test_suite() {
+    case $TARGET in
+        # configure emulation for transparent execution of foreign binaries
+        aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu)
+            export QEMU_LD_PREFIX=/usr/aarch64-linux-gnu
+            ;;
+        arm*-unknown-linux-gnueabihf)
+            export QEMU_LD_PREFIX=/usr/arm-linux-gnueabihf
+            ;;
+        *)
+            ;;
+    esac
+
+    if [ ! -z "$QEMU_LD_PREFIX" ]; then
+        # Run tests on a single thread when using QEMU user emulation
+        export RUST_TEST_THREADS=1
+    fi
+
+    if [[ "$TRAVIS_RUST_VERSION" == nightly* ]]; then
+        travis-cargo build -- --target $TARGET --no-default-features
+    else
+        travis-cargo build -- --target $TARGET
+    fi &&
+    if [[ "$TRAVIS_RUST_VERSION" == nightly* ]]; then
+        travis-cargo test -- --target $TARGET --no-default-features
+    else
+        travis-cargo test -- --target $TARGET
+    fi &&
+    if [[ "$TRAVIS_RUST_VERSION" == nightly* ]]; then
+        travis-cargo bench -- --target $TARGET --no-default-features
+    else
+        travis-cargo bench -- --target $TARGET
+    fi &&
+    travis-cargo --only stable doc -- --target $TARGET
+
+    # sanity check the file type
+    file target/$TARGET/debug/colonize
+}
+
+main() {
+    disable_cross_doctests
+    run_test_suite
+}
+
+main
diff --git a/ci/utils.sh b/ci/utils.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..d0cdd64
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci/utils.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+mktempd() {
+    echo $(mktemp -d 2>/dev/null || mktemp -d -t tmp)
+}
+
+host() {
+    case "$TRAVIS_OS_NAME" in
+        linux)
+            echo x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
+            ;;
+        osx)
+            echo x86_64-apple-darwin
+            ;;
+    esac
+}
+
+gcc_prefix() {
+    case "$TARGET" in
+        aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu)
+            echo aarch64-linux-gnu-
+            ;;
+        arm*-gnueabihf)
+            echo arm-linux-gnueabihf-
+            ;;
+        *)
+            return
+            ;;
+    esac
+}
+
+dobin() {
+    [ -z $MAKE_DEB ] && die 'dobin: $MAKE_DEB not set'
+    [ $# -lt 1 ] && die "dobin: at least one argument needed"
+
+    local f prefix=$(gcc_prefix)
+    for f in "$@"; do
+        install -m0755 $f $dtd/debian/usr/bin/
+        ${prefix}strip -s $dtd/debian/usr/bin/$(basename $f)
+    done
+}
+
+architecture() {
+    case $1 in
+        x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu|x86_64-unknown-linux-musl)
+            echo amd64
+            ;;
+        i686-unknown-linux-gnu)
+            echo i386
+            ;;
+        arm*-unknown-linux-gnueabihf)
+            echo armhf
+            ;;
+        *)
+            die "architecture: unexpected target $TARGET"
+            ;;
+    esac
+}