diff --git a/scripts/play.pl b/scripts/play.pl
index df0d8b5..961bfd7 100644
--- a/scripts/play.pl
+++ b/scripts/play.pl
@@ -13,10 +13,11 @@ our (%queue, %timer);
 if (weechat::register($SCRIPT_NAME, $SCRIPT_AUTHOR, $SCRIPT_VERSION,
  $SCRIPT_LICENCE, $SCRIPT_DESC, '', '')) {
 	weechat::hook_command('play', 'Play ASCII art',
-		"[-delay ms] [-find] [-pipe \"command\"] filename\n-stop",
+		qq([-delay ms] [-find] [-pipe "command"] [-fmt "text"] filename\n-stop),
 		"-delay: delay in milliseconds between lines\n".
 		"-find: list matching files, don't play\n".
 		"-pipe: pipe output into command\n".
+		"-fmt: treat file as a format string and replace with text\n".
 		"filename: file to play. Supports wildcards. By default, searches\n".
 		"    subdirectories as well unless '/' is found in the filename\n".
 		"-stop: stop currently playing file in buffer",
@@ -36,8 +37,8 @@ if (weechat::register($SCRIPT_NAME, $SCRIPT_AUTHOR, $SCRIPT_VERSION,
 }
 
 sub parse {
-	my ($input, $delay, $pipe, $find, $repeat) =
-		(shift, weechat::config_get_plugin('delay'), '/msg *', 0, 1);
+	my ($input, $delay, $pipe, $find, $repeat, $fmt) =
+		(shift, weechat::config_get_plugin('delay'), '/msg *', 0, 1, '');
 
 	if ($input =~ / *-delay +([0-9]+) /) {
 		$delay = $1;
@@ -47,19 +48,22 @@ sub parse {
 		$find = 1;
 		$input =~ s/-find//;
 	}
+	if ($input =~ / *-fmt +("(?:[^"\\]|\\.)+"|[^ ]+) /) {
+		$fmt = $1;
+		$fmt =~ s/^"(.+)"$/$1/ if $fmt =~ /^".+"$/;
+		$input =~ s/-fmt +("(?:[^"\\]|\\.)+"|[^ ]+)//;
+	}
 	if ($input =~ / *-repeat +([0-9]+) /) {
 		$repeat = $1;
 		$input =~ s/-repeat +[0-9]+//;
 	}
-	# greedy match within quotes so we don't need to escape quotes.
-	# i don't think we will be affected negatively by this
-	if ($input =~ / *-pipe +(".+"|[^ ]+) /) {
+	if ($input =~ / *-pipe +("(?:[^"\\]|\\.)+"|[^ ]+) /) {
 		$pipe = $1;
 		$pipe =~ s/^"(.+)"$/$1/ if $pipe =~ /^".+"$/;
-		$input =~ s/-pipe +(?:".+"|[^ ]+)//;
+		$input =~ s/-pipe +("(?:[^"\\]|\\.)+"|[^ ]+)//;
 	}
 
-	return ($delay, $pipe, $find, $repeat, $input =~ s/^ +| +$//r);
+	return ($delay, $pipe, $find, $repeat, $fmt, $input =~ s/^ +| +$//r);
 }
 
 sub play {
@@ -74,13 +78,15 @@ sub play {
 sub cmd_play {
 	my $buffer = $_[1];
 
-	if ($_[2] eq '-stop' and exists $timer{$buffer}) {
-		weechat::unhook($timer{$buffer});
-		delete $queue{$buffer};
+	if ($_[2] eq '-stop') {
+		if (exists $timer{$buffer}) {
+			weechat::unhook($timer{$buffer});
+			delete $queue{$buffer};
+		}
 		return weechat::WEECHAT_RC_OK;
 	}
 
-	my ($delay, $pipe, $find, $repeat, $file) = parse($_[2]);
+	my ($delay, $pipe, $find, $repeat, $fmt, $file) = parse($_[2]);
 	my $server = weechat::info_get($buffer, 'localvar_server');
 	my ($prio_s, $prio_d) = (
 		weechat::config_get("irc.server.$server.anti_flood_prio_high"),
@@ -107,7 +113,10 @@ sub cmd_play {
 
 	if ($path and open FH, "<", $path) {
 		my @lines;
-		push @lines, s/[\r\n]*$//r while <FH>;
+		while (<FH>) {
+			$_ = sprintf $_, split ' ', $fmt if $fmt;
+			push @lines, s/[\r\n]*$//r
+		}
 		close FH;
 		for (1 .. $repeat) {
 			push @{ $queue{$buffer} }, "$pipe \x0f$_\x0f" for @lines;