diff --git a/lib/twenty_forty_eight/game/board.ex b/lib/twenty_forty_eight/game/board.ex
index 9bff9ec..8515c48 100644
--- a/lib/twenty_forty_eight/game/board.ex
+++ b/lib/twenty_forty_eight/game/board.ex
@@ -98,15 +98,16 @@ defmodule TwentyFortyEight.Game.Board do
     # For each row, we run a two-pointer algorithm where:
     #
     # * Pointer #1 iterates through the row.
-    # * Pointer #2 points to the latest non-empty, non-modified cell behind pointer #1.
+    # * Pointer #2 points to the latest non-empty, non-modified cell behind
+    #   pointer #1.
     #
     # As #1 iterates, if its current cell is not empty and:
     #
-    # * Has the same value as the cell of #2: the cell of #1 will be merged into that of #2 (the #2 cell
-    #   value will be doubled and the #1 cell will be emptied) and the #2 pointer will
-    #   be nullified. Or;
-    # * Does not have the same value as the cell of #2: the #2 pointer
-    #   is updated to point to #1 before #1 continues its iteration.
+    # * Has the same value as the cell of #2: the cell of #1 will be merged into
+    #   that of #2 (the #2 cell value will be doubled and the #1 cell will be
+    #   emptied) and the #2 pointer will be nullified. Or;
+    # * Does not have the same value as the cell of #2: the #2 pointer is
+    #   updated to point to #1 before #1 continues its iteration.
     updates =
       rows_for_move(board, move)
       |> Enum.map(fn row ->
diff --git a/lib/twenty_forty_eight/game/game.ex b/lib/twenty_forty_eight/game/game.ex
index fe4b3b1..aee713e 100644
--- a/lib/twenty_forty_eight/game/game.ex
+++ b/lib/twenty_forty_eight/game/game.ex
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ defmodule TwentyFortyEight.Game.Game do
     timestamps()
   end
 
-  def changeset(attrs) do
+  def create_changeset(attrs) do
     %__MODULE__{}
     |> cast(attrs, [
       :num_rows,
@@ -42,6 +42,12 @@ defmodule TwentyFortyEight.Game.Game do
     |> validate_inclusion(:winning_number, [1024, 2048])
   end
 
+  def update_changeset(%__MODULE__{} = game, attrs) do
+    game
+    |> cast(attrs, [:board, :score, :turns, :state])
+    |> validate_required([:board, :score, :turns, :state])
+  end
+
   def insert(changeset) do
     changeset
     |> cast(%{slug: generate_slug()}, [:slug])
@@ -53,6 +59,12 @@ defmodule TwentyFortyEight.Game.Game do
     Repo.get_by(__MODULE__, slug: slug)
   end
 
+  def update(%__MODULE__{} = game, attrs) do
+    game
+    |> update_changeset(attrs)
+    |> Repo.update()
+  end
+
   defp generate_slug() do
     1..@slug_length
     |> Enum.map_join("", fn _ -> Enum.random(@slug_alphabet) end)
diff --git a/lib/twenty_forty_eight/game/manager.ex b/lib/twenty_forty_eight/game/manager.ex
index 8b856fa..f7771b2 100644
--- a/lib/twenty_forty_eight/game/manager.ex
+++ b/lib/twenty_forty_eight/game/manager.ex
@@ -5,53 +5,121 @@ defmodule TwentyFortyEight.Game.Manager do
 
   @registry TwentyFortyEight.Game.Registry
   @supervisor TwentyFortyEight.Game.Supervisor
+  # Shutdown the server after 10 minutes to avoid dangling processes.
+  @timeout 10 * 60 * 1_000
 
-  def get_game(name, %Game{} = game) when is_binary(name) do
+  @doc """
+  Ensure a manager is running for the game named `name`.
+
+  If no game is currently running a new one is started with state loaded from
+  `state`.
+  """
+  def start(name) when is_binary(name) do
     case Registry.lookup(@registry, name) do
       [{pid, _value}] -> {:ok, pid}
-      [] -> DynamicSupervisor.start_child(@supervisor, {__MODULE__, {name, game}})
+      [] -> DynamicSupervisor.start_child(@supervisor, {__MODULE__, name})
     end
   end
 
+  @doc """
+  Increment the game by one move.
+  """
   def tick(name, move) do
     GenServer.call(via_tuple(name), {:tick, move})
   end
 
+  @doc """
+  Return state data suitable for updating an external store.
+
+  This state is not sufficient for restarting a game, but is intended by
+  updating pre-existing state stored elsewhere (e.g. in a `%Game{}`).
+  """
   def state(name) do
     GenServer.call(via_tuple(name), :state)
   end
 
-  def start_link({name, game}) do
-    GenServer.start_link(__MODULE__, game, name: via_tuple(name))
+  def start_link(name) do
+    GenServer.start_link(__MODULE__, name, name: via_tuple(name))
   end
 
   @impl true
-  def init(%Game{} = game) do
+  def init(name) do
     Process.flag(:trap_exit, true)
-    {:ok, create_or_restore_engine(game)}
+    game_state = Game.get_by_slug(name)
+    engine = create_or_restore_engine(game_state)
+
+    state = %{
+      game: game_state,
+      engine: engine
+    }
+
+    {:ok, state, @timeout}
   end
 
   @impl true
-  def handle_call({:tick, move}, _from, game) do
-    {:reply, :ok, Engine.tick(game, move)}
+  def handle_call({:tick, move}, _from, state) do
+    state = %{state | engine: Engine.tick(state.engine, move)}
+    {:reply, :ok, state, @timeout}
   end
 
   @impl true
-  def handle_call(:state, _from, game) do
-    response = Map.take(game, [:board, :score, :turns, :state])
-    {:reply, response, game}
+  def handle_call(:state, _from, state) do
+    {:reply, mutable_state(state), state, @timeout}
   end
 
   @impl true
-  def handle_info({:EXIT, from, reason}, game) do
-    IO.puts("Trapped exit from #{inspect(from)} because #{inspect(reason)}")
-    {:stop, reason, game}
+  def handle_info(:timeout, state) do
+    handle_exit(state)
+    {:stop, :shutdown, state}
+  end
+
+  @impl true
+  def handle_info({:EXIT, _from, reason}, state) do
+    handle_exit(state)
+    {:stop, reason, state, @timeout}
+  end
+
+  defp handle_exit(%{game: game} = state) do
+    {:ok, _} = persist_state(game, mutable_state(state))
   end
 
   defp via_tuple(name) do
     {:via, Registry, {@registry, name}}
   end
 
+  defp mutable_state(%{engine: engine} = _state) do
+    Map.take(engine, [:board, :score, :turns, :state])
+  end
+
+  defp persist_state(game, state) do
+    Game.update(game, %{state | board: encode_board(state.board)})
+  end
+
+  defp encode_board(%Board{cells: cells} = board) do
+    # Encode the cells for JSON serialisation.
+    # Note that we omit the dimensions as these are already stored on the Game.
+    cell_values = for row <- 1..board.num_rows, col <- 1..board.num_cols, do: cells[{row, col}]
+    %{cells: cell_values}
+  end
+
+  defp decode_board(%Game{board: %{"cells" => cell_values}} = game) do
+    # Decode the cells from JSON serialisation as a Board.
+    coordinates = for row <- 1..game.num_rows, col <- 1..game.num_cols, do: {row, col}
+
+    cell_values =
+      Enum.map(cell_values, fn
+        nil -> nil
+        "obstacle" -> :obstacle
+        value when is_integer(value) -> value
+      end)
+
+    %Board{
+      cells: Enum.zip(coordinates, cell_values) |> Enum.into(%{}),
+      num_rows: game.num_rows,
+      num_cols: game.num_cols
+    }
+  end
+
   defp create_or_restore_engine(%Game{state: :new, board: nil} = game) do
     board = Board.init(game.num_rows, game.num_cols, game.starting_number, game.num_obstacles)
     opts = [turn_start_number: game.turn_start_number, winning_number: game.winning_number]
@@ -60,10 +128,8 @@ defmodule TwentyFortyEight.Game.Manager do
   end
 
   defp create_or_restore_engine(game) do
-    board = %Board{cells: game.board, num_rows: game.num_rows, num_cols: game.num_cols}
-
     state = %{
-      board: board,
+      board: decode_board(game),
       score: game.score,
       turns: game.turns,
       state: game.state,
diff --git a/lib/twenty_forty_eight_web/controllers/game_controller.ex b/lib/twenty_forty_eight_web/controllers/game_controller.ex
index f13acc6..806f899 100644
--- a/lib/twenty_forty_eight_web/controllers/game_controller.ex
+++ b/lib/twenty_forty_eight_web/controllers/game_controller.ex
@@ -4,12 +4,12 @@ defmodule TwentyFortyEightWeb.GameController do
   alias TwentyFortyEight.Game.Game
 
   def new(conn, _params) do
-    changeset = Game.changeset(%{})
+    changeset = Game.create_changeset(%{})
     render(conn, :new, changeset: changeset)
   end
 
   def create(conn, %{"game" => attrs} = _params) do
-    changeset = Game.changeset(attrs)
+    changeset = Game.create_changeset(attrs)
 
     case Game.insert(changeset) do
       {:ok, game} -> redirect(conn, to: ~p"/#{game.slug}")
diff --git a/lib/twenty_forty_eight_web/live/game_live.ex b/lib/twenty_forty_eight_web/live/game_live.ex
index d00f027..96df54c 100644
--- a/lib/twenty_forty_eight_web/live/game_live.ex
+++ b/lib/twenty_forty_eight_web/live/game_live.ex
@@ -33,9 +33,8 @@ defmodule TwentyFortyEightWeb.GameLive do
          |> put_flash(:error, "Could not find game with ID #{name}.")
          |> redirect(to: ~p"/")}
 
-      game ->
-        # TODO change game to die after no interaction (or put similar logic in the manager?)
-        {:ok, _pid} = GameManager.get_game(name, game)
+      _game_state ->
+        {:ok, _pid} = GameManager.start(name)
 
         if connected?(socket) do
           Phoenix.PubSub.subscribe(TwentyFortyEight.PubSub, name)