diff --git a/src/bot.clj b/src/bot.clj
index 9742371..f82338c 100644
--- a/src/bot.clj
+++ b/src/bot.clj
@@ -6,15 +6,15 @@
             [game]
             [irclj.core]))
 
-(defn keywordise-game [game]
+(defn lower-case-game [game]
   (when (string? game)
-    (keyword (str/lower-case game))))
+    (str/lower-case game)))
 
 (defn sort-case-insensitive [coll]
   (sort #(apply compare (map str/lower-case %&)) coll))
 
 (defn match-string [& {:keys [state game player]}]
-  (as-> (keywordise-game game) x
+  (as-> (lower-case-game game) x
     (game/get-players-of-game state x)
     (disj x player)
     (sort-case-insensitive x)
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
     (str "Anyone ready for " game "? " x)))
 
 (defn list-players-string [& {:keys [state game]}]
-  (as-> (keywordise-game game) x
+  (as-> (lower-case-game game) x
     (game/get-players-of-game state x)
     (sort-case-insensitive x)
     (map #(str " _" % "_") x)
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@
   (str "Games with a list of players: "
        (str/join
         ", "
-        (sort-case-insensitive (map name (game/get-games state))))))
+        (sort-case-insensitive (game/get-games state)))))
 
 (defn help-string [& {:keys []}]
   " !list - show all the games that have a list of players
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@
   (let [message-parts (str/split message #"\s")
         command (if-let [x (first message-parts)] (str/lower-case x) "")
         game (second message-parts)
-        game-keyword (keywordise-game game)]
+        game-keyword (lower-case-game game)]
     {:command command
      :game game
      :game-keyword game-keyword}))
diff --git a/src/system.clj b/src/system.clj
index 2ba7a37..a555245 100644
--- a/src/system.clj
+++ b/src/system.clj
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 (ns system
   (:require [irc]
             [clojure.data.json :as json]
+            [clojure.set :as set]
             [clj-yaml.core :as yaml]))
 
 (defn setify-vals [x]
@@ -13,13 +14,14 @@
           {} x))
 
 (defn process-json [x]
-  (update x :games setify-vals))
+  (-> (set/rename-keys x {"games" :games})
+      (update :games setify-vals)))
 
 (defn load-state [f]
   (process-json
    (try
      (with-open [datafile (clojure.java.io/reader f)]
-       (json/read datafile :key-fn keyword))
+       (json/read datafile))
      (catch Exception e nil))))
 
 (defn save-state [f data]
diff --git a/test/bot_test.clj b/test/bot_test.clj
index 9081722..a277f96 100644
--- a/test/bot_test.clj
+++ b/test/bot_test.clj
@@ -5,13 +5,13 @@
   (:require [clojure.test :refer :all]
             [bot :refer :all]))
 
-(def test-state '{:games {:hypothetical-shooter #{"abc" "xyz" "123"}
-                          :quasi-rts #{"abc" "123"}
-                          :imaginary-rpg #{"xyz" "abc"}}})
+(def test-state '{:games {"hypothetical-shooter" #{"abc" "xyz" "123"}
+                          "quasi-rts" #{"abc" "123"}
+                          "imaginary-rpg" #{"xyz" "abc"}}})
 
-(deftest keywordise-game-test
-  (is (= :quasi-rts
-         (keywordise-game "Quasi-RTS"))))
+(deftest lower-case-game-test
+  (is (= "quasi-rts"
+         (lower-case-game "Quasi-RTS"))))
 
 (deftest sort-case-insensitive-test
   (is (= ["A" "b" "C"]
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
          (list-games-string :state test-state))))
 
 (deftest split-message-test
-  (is (= {:command "!match" :game "Quasi-Rts" :game-keyword :quasi-rts}
+  (is (= {:command "!match" :game "Quasi-Rts" :game-keyword "quasi-rts"}
          (split-message "!match Quasi-Rts  "))))
 
 (deftest dispatch-command-test
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@
     (is (and
          (= "Added 123 to the list of players for Imaginary-RPG!"
             (dispatch-command state-atom "123" "!add Imaginary-RPG"))
-         (= {:games {:hypothetical-shooter #{"abc" "xyz" "123"}
-                     :quasi-rts #{"abc" "123"}
-                     :imaginary-rpg #{"xyz" "abc" "123"}}}
+         (= {:games {"hypothetical-shooter" #{"abc" "xyz" "123"}
+                     "quasi-rts" #{"abc" "123"}
+                     "imaginary-rpg" #{"xyz" "abc" "123"}}}
             @state-atom)))))
diff --git a/test/game_test.clj b/test/game_test.clj
index 7edb743..1e3e71f 100644
--- a/test/game_test.clj
+++ b/test/game_test.clj
@@ -5,31 +5,31 @@
   (:require [clojure.test :refer :all]
             [game :refer :all]))
 
-(def test-state '{:games {:hypothetical-shooter #{"player-one" "player-two" "player-three"}
-                          :quasi-rts #{"player-two" "player-four"}
-                          :imaginary-rpg #{"player-one" "player-three" "player-four"}}})
+(def test-state '{:games {"hypothetical-shooter" #{"player-one" "player-two" "player-three"}
+                          "quasi-rts" #{"player-two" "player-four"}
+                          "imaginary-rpg" #{"player-one" "player-three" "player-four"}}})
 
 (deftest get-players-of-game-test
   (is (=
        '#{"player-two" "player-four"}
-       (get-players-of-game test-state :quasi-rts))))
+       (get-players-of-game test-state "quasi-rts"))))
 
 (deftest add-player-of-game-test
   (is (=
        '#{"player-one" "player-two" "player-four"}
-       (get-in (add-player-of-game test-state :quasi-rts "player-one") [:games :quasi-rts]))))
+       (get-in (add-player-of-game test-state "quasi-rts" "player-one") [:games "quasi-rts"]))))
 
 (deftest remove-player-of-game-test
   (is (=
        '#{"player-one" "player-three"}
-       (get-in (remove-player-of-game test-state :imaginary-rpg "player-four") [:games :imaginary-rpg]))))
+       (get-in (remove-player-of-game test-state "imaginary-rpg" "player-four") [:games "imaginary-rpg"]))))
 
 (deftest get-games-test
   (is (=
-       '#{:hypothetical-shooter :quasi-rts :imaginary-rpg}
+       '#{"hypothetical-shooter" "quasi-rts" "imaginary-rpg"}
        (set (get-games test-state)))))
 
 (deftest remove-game-test
   (is (=
-       '#{:hypothetical-shooter :imaginary-rpg}
-       (set (keys (:games (remove-game test-state :quasi-rts)))))))
+       '#{"hypothetical-shooter" "imaginary-rpg"}
+       (set (keys (:games (remove-game test-state "quasi-rts")))))))