diff --git a/src/ssbo_renderer.zig b/src/ssbo_renderer.zig
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9444945
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ssbo_renderer.zig
@@ -0,0 +1,231 @@
+// SSBO-based instanced rendering for entities
+// reduces per-entity GPU bandwidth from 64 bytes (matrices) to 12 bytes (x, y, color)
+
+const std = @import("std");
+const rl = @import("raylib");
+const sandbox = @import("sandbox.zig");
+
+const SCREEN_WIDTH = sandbox.SCREEN_WIDTH;
+const SCREEN_HEIGHT = sandbox.SCREEN_HEIGHT;
+
+fn loadShaderFile(path: []const u8) ?[:0]const u8 {
+    const file = std.fs.cwd().openFile(path, .{}) catch |err| {
+        std.debug.print("ssbo: failed to open {s}: {}\n", .{ path, err });
+        return null;
+    };
+    defer file.close();
+
+    const stat = file.stat() catch |err| {
+        std.debug.print("ssbo: failed to stat {s}: {}\n", .{ path, err });
+        return null;
+    };
+
+    const buf = std.heap.page_allocator.allocSentinel(u8, stat.size, 0) catch |err| {
+        std.debug.print("ssbo: failed to allocate for {s}: {}\n", .{ path, err });
+        return null;
+    };
+
+    const bytes_read = file.readAll(buf) catch |err| {
+        std.debug.print("ssbo: failed to read {s}: {}\n", .{ path, err });
+        std.heap.page_allocator.free(buf);
+        return null;
+    };
+
+    if (bytes_read != stat.size) {
+        std.debug.print("ssbo: incomplete read of {s}\n", .{path});
+        std.heap.page_allocator.free(buf);
+        return null;
+    }
+
+    return buf;
+}
+
+pub const SsboRenderer = struct {
+    shader_id: u32,
+    vao_id: u32,
+    vbo_id: u32,
+    ssbo_id: u32,
+    screen_size_loc: i32,
+    circle_texture_loc: i32,
+    circle_texture_id: u32,
+    gpu_buffer: []sandbox.GpuEntity,
+
+    const QUAD_SIZE: f32 = 16.0;
+
+    // quad vertices: position (x, y) and texcoord (u, v)
+    // centered at origin, size 1x1
+    const quad_vertices = [_]f32{
+        // pos        // texcoord
+        -0.5, -0.5, 0.0, 1.0, // bottom-left
+        0.5, -0.5, 1.0, 1.0, // bottom-right
+        0.5, 0.5, 1.0, 0.0, // top-right
+        -0.5, -0.5, 0.0, 1.0, // bottom-left
+        0.5, 0.5, 1.0, 0.0, // top-right
+        -0.5, 0.5, 0.0, 0.0, // top-left
+    };
+
+    pub fn init(circle_texture: rl.Texture2D) ?SsboRenderer {
+        // allocate GPU buffer for entity data
+        const gpu_buffer = std.heap.page_allocator.alloc(sandbox.GpuEntity, sandbox.MAX_ENTITIES) catch {
+            std.debug.print("ssbo: failed to allocate gpu_buffer\n", .{});
+            return null;
+        };
+
+        // load shaders from files at runtime
+        const vert_source = loadShaderFile("shaders/entity.vert") orelse {
+            std.debug.print("ssbo: failed to load vertex shader\n", .{});
+            std.heap.page_allocator.free(gpu_buffer);
+            return null;
+        };
+        defer std.heap.page_allocator.free(vert_source);
+
+        const frag_source = loadShaderFile("shaders/entity.frag") orelse {
+            std.debug.print("ssbo: failed to load fragment shader\n", .{});
+            std.heap.page_allocator.free(gpu_buffer);
+            return null;
+        };
+        defer std.heap.page_allocator.free(frag_source);
+
+        const shader_id = rl.gl.rlLoadShaderCode(vert_source, frag_source);
+        if (shader_id == 0) {
+            std.debug.print("ssbo: failed to compile shaders\n", .{});
+            std.heap.page_allocator.free(gpu_buffer);
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        // get uniform locations
+        const screen_size_loc = rl.gl.rlGetLocationUniform(shader_id, "screenSize");
+        const circle_texture_loc = rl.gl.rlGetLocationUniform(shader_id, "circleTexture");
+
+        if (screen_size_loc < 0) {
+            std.debug.print("ssbo: warning - screenSize uniform not found\n", .{});
+        }
+        if (circle_texture_loc < 0) {
+            std.debug.print("ssbo: warning - circleTexture uniform not found\n", .{});
+        }
+
+        // create VAO
+        const vao_id = rl.gl.rlLoadVertexArray();
+        if (vao_id == 0) {
+            std.debug.print("ssbo: failed to create VAO\n", .{});
+            rl.gl.rlUnloadShaderProgram(shader_id);
+            std.heap.page_allocator.free(gpu_buffer);
+            return null;
+        }
+        _ = rl.gl.rlEnableVertexArray(vao_id);
+
+        // create VBO with quad vertices
+        const vbo_id = rl.gl.rlLoadVertexBuffer(&quad_vertices, @sizeOf(@TypeOf(quad_vertices)), false);
+        if (vbo_id == 0) {
+            std.debug.print("ssbo: failed to create VBO\n", .{});
+            rl.gl.rlUnloadVertexArray(vao_id);
+            rl.gl.rlUnloadShaderProgram(shader_id);
+            std.heap.page_allocator.free(gpu_buffer);
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        // IMPORTANT: bind VBO before setting vertex attributes
+        // glVertexAttribPointer records the currently bound VBO
+        rl.gl.rlEnableVertexBuffer(vbo_id);
+
+        // setup vertex attributes
+        // position: location 0, 2 floats
+        rl.gl.rlSetVertexAttribute(0, 2, rl.gl.rl_float, false, 4 * @sizeOf(f32), 0);
+        rl.gl.rlEnableVertexAttribute(0);
+
+        // texcoord: location 1, 2 floats
+        rl.gl.rlSetVertexAttribute(1, 2, rl.gl.rl_float, false, 4 * @sizeOf(f32), 2 * @sizeOf(f32));
+        rl.gl.rlEnableVertexAttribute(1);
+
+        // create SSBO for entity data (12 bytes per entity, 1M entities = 12MB)
+        const ssbo_size: u32 = @intCast(sandbox.MAX_ENTITIES * @sizeOf(sandbox.GpuEntity));
+        const ssbo_id = rl.gl.rlLoadShaderBuffer(ssbo_size, null, rl.gl.rl_dynamic_draw);
+        if (ssbo_id == 0) {
+            std.debug.print("ssbo: failed to create SSBO\n", .{});
+            rl.gl.rlUnloadVertexBuffer(vbo_id);
+            rl.gl.rlUnloadVertexArray(vao_id);
+            rl.gl.rlUnloadShaderProgram(shader_id);
+            std.heap.page_allocator.free(gpu_buffer);
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        // unbind VAO
+        _ = rl.gl.rlEnableVertexArray(0);
+
+        std.debug.print("ssbo: initialized (shader={}, vao={}, vbo={}, ssbo={})\n", .{ shader_id, vao_id, vbo_id, ssbo_id });
+
+        return .{
+            .shader_id = shader_id,
+            .vao_id = vao_id,
+            .vbo_id = vbo_id,
+            .ssbo_id = ssbo_id,
+            .screen_size_loc = screen_size_loc,
+            .circle_texture_loc = circle_texture_loc,
+            .circle_texture_id = circle_texture.id,
+            .gpu_buffer = gpu_buffer,
+        };
+    }
+
+    pub fn deinit(self: *SsboRenderer) void {
+        rl.gl.rlUnloadShaderBuffer(self.ssbo_id);
+        rl.gl.rlUnloadVertexBuffer(self.vbo_id);
+        rl.gl.rlUnloadVertexArray(self.vao_id);
+        rl.gl.rlUnloadShaderProgram(self.shader_id);
+        std.heap.page_allocator.free(self.gpu_buffer);
+    }
+
+    pub fn render(self: *SsboRenderer, entities: *const sandbox.Entities) void {
+        if (entities.count == 0) return;
+
+        // flush raylib's internal render batch before our custom GL calls
+        rl.gl.rlDrawRenderBatchActive();
+
+        // copy entity data to GPU buffer (position + color only)
+        for (entities.items[0..entities.count], 0..) |entity, i| {
+            self.gpu_buffer[i] = .{
+                .x = entity.x,
+                .y = entity.y,
+                .color = entity.color,
+            };
+        }
+
+        // upload to SSBO
+        const data_size: u32 = @intCast(entities.count * @sizeOf(sandbox.GpuEntity));
+        rl.gl.rlUpdateShaderBuffer(self.ssbo_id, self.gpu_buffer.ptr, data_size, 0);
+
+        // bind shader
+        rl.gl.rlEnableShader(self.shader_id);
+
+        // set screenSize uniform
+        const screen_size = [2]f32{ @floatFromInt(SCREEN_WIDTH), @floatFromInt(SCREEN_HEIGHT) };
+        rl.gl.rlSetUniform(self.screen_size_loc, &screen_size, @intFromEnum(rl.gl.rlShaderUniformDataType.rl_shader_uniform_vec2), 1);
+
+        // bind texture - try different order
+        rl.gl.rlActiveTextureSlot(0);
+        rl.gl.rlEnableTexture(self.circle_texture_id);
+        // use rlSetUniform with int type instead of rlSetUniformSampler
+        const tex_unit: i32 = 0;
+        rl.gl.rlSetUniform(self.circle_texture_loc, &tex_unit, @intFromEnum(rl.gl.rlShaderUniformDataType.rl_shader_uniform_int), 1);
+
+        // bind SSBO to binding point 0
+        rl.gl.rlBindShaderBuffer(self.ssbo_id, 0);
+
+        // enable blending for transparency
+        rl.gl.rlEnableColorBlend();
+        rl.gl.rlSetBlendMode(@intFromEnum(rl.gl.rlBlendMode.rl_blend_alpha));
+
+        // bind VAO and draw
+        _ = rl.gl.rlEnableVertexArray(self.vao_id);
+        rl.gl.rlEnableVertexBuffer(self.vbo_id);
+        rl.gl.rlDrawVertexArrayInstanced(0, 6, @intCast(entities.count));
+
+        // cleanup - restore raylib's expected state
+        rl.gl.rlDisableVertexArray();
+        rl.gl.rlDisableVertexBuffer();
+        rl.gl.rlBindShaderBuffer(0, 0); // unbind SSBO
+        rl.gl.rlDisableTexture();
+
+        // re-enable raylib's default shader
+        rl.gl.rlEnableShader(rl.gl.rlGetShaderIdDefault());
+    }
+};