diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index e6486a5de5cf9..d4a848bd4d822 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](http://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/).
 
 ### Added
 
+- Added Reinforcement Learning - Deep Q-network (DQN) lightning example ([#1232](https://github.com/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/pull/1232))
 - Added support for hierarchical `dict` ([#1152](https://github.com/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/pull/1152))
 - Added `TrainsLogger` class ([#1122](https://github.com/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/pull/1122))
 - Added type hints to `pytorch_lightning.core` ([#946](https://github.com/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/pull/946))
diff --git a/pl_examples/domain_templates/reinforse_learn_Qnet.py b/pl_examples/domain_templates/reinforse_learn_Qnet.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..4585c108d5cfb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pl_examples/domain_templates/reinforse_learn_Qnet.py
@@ -0,0 +1,360 @@
+"""
+# Deep Reinforcement Learning: Deep Q-network (DQN)
+
+this example is based off https://github.com/PacktPublishing/Deep-Reinforcement-Learning-Hands-On-
+Second-Edition/blob/master/Chapter06/02_dqn_pong.py
+
+The template illustrates using Lightning for Reinforcement Learning. The example builds a basic DQN using the
+classic CartPole environment.
+
+to run the template just run:
+python dqn.py
+
+After ~1500 steps, you will see the total_reward hitting the max score of 200. Open up tensor boards to
+see the metrics.
+
+tensorboard --logdir default
+"""
+
+import pytorch_lightning as pl
+
+from typing import Tuple, List
+
+import argparse
+from collections import OrderedDict, deque, namedtuple
+
+import gym
+import numpy as np
+import torch
+import torch.nn as nn
+import torch.optim as optim
+from torch.optim import Optimizer
+from torch.utils.data import DataLoader
+from torch.utils.data.dataset import IterableDataset
+
+
+class DQN(nn.Module):
+    """
+    Simple MLP network
+
+    Args:
+        obs_size: observation/state size of the environment
+        n_actions: number of discrete actions available in the environment
+        hidden_size: size of hidden layers
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, obs_size: int, n_actions: int, hidden_size: int = 128):
+        super(DQN, self).__init__()
+        self.net = nn.Sequential(
+            nn.Linear(obs_size, hidden_size),
+            nn.ReLU(),
+            nn.Linear(hidden_size, n_actions)
+        )
+
+    def forward(self, x):
+        return self.net(x.float())
+
+
+# Named tuple for storing experience steps gathered in training
+Experience = namedtuple(
+    'Experience', field_names=['state', 'action', 'reward',
+                               'done', 'new_state'])
+
+
+class ReplayBuffer:
+    """
+    Replay Buffer for storing past experiences allowing the agent to learn from them
+
+    Args:
+        capacity: size of the buffer
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, capacity: int) -> None:
+        self.buffer = deque(maxlen=capacity)
+
+    def __len__(self) -> None:
+        return len(self.buffer)
+
+    def append(self, experience: Experience) -> None:
+        """
+        Add experience to the buffer
+
+        Args:
+            experience: tuple (state, action, reward, done, new_state)
+        """
+        self.buffer.append(experience)
+
+    def sample(self, batch_size: int) -> Tuple:
+        indices = np.random.choice(len(self.buffer), batch_size, replace=False)
+        states, actions, rewards, dones, next_states = zip(*[self.buffer[idx] for idx in indices])
+
+        return (np.array(states), np.array(actions), np.array(rewards, dtype=np.float32),
+                np.array(dones, dtype=np.bool), np.array(next_states))
+
+
+class RLDataset(IterableDataset):
+    """
+    Iterable Dataset containing the ExperienceBuffer
+    which will be updated with new experiences during training
+
+    Args:
+        buffer: replay buffer
+        sample_size: number of experiences to sample at a time
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, buffer: ReplayBuffer, sample_size: int = 200) -> None:
+        self.buffer = buffer
+        self.sample_size = sample_size
+
+    def __iter__(self) -> Tuple:
+        states, actions, rewards, dones, new_states = self.buffer.sample(self.sample_size)
+        for i in range(len(dones)):
+            yield states[i], actions[i], rewards[i], dones[i], new_states[i]
+
+
+class Agent:
+    """
+    Base Agent class handeling the interaction with the environment
+
+    Args:
+        env: training environment
+        replay_buffer: replay buffer storing experiences
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, env: gym.Env, replay_buffer: ReplayBuffer) -> None:
+        self.env = env
+        self.replay_buffer = replay_buffer
+        self.reset()
+        self.state = self.env.reset()
+
+    def reset(self) -> None:
+        """ Resents the environment and updates the state"""
+        self.state = self.env.reset()
+
+    def get_action(self, net: nn.Module, epsilon: float, device: str) -> int:
+        """
+        Using the given network, decide what action to carry out
+        using an epsilon-greedy policy
+
+        Args:
+            net: DQN network
+            epsilon: value to determine likelihood of taking a random action
+            device: current device
+
+        Returns:
+            action
+        """
+        if np.random.random() < epsilon:
+            action = self.env.action_space.sample()
+        else:
+            state = torch.tensor([self.state])
+
+            if device not in ['cpu']:
+                state = state.cuda(device)
+
+            q_values = net(state)
+            _, action = torch.max(q_values, dim=1)
+            action = int(action.item())
+
+        return action
+
+    @torch.no_grad()
+    def play_step(self, net: nn.Module, epsilon: float = 0.0, device: str = 'cpu') -> Tuple[float, bool]:
+        """
+        Carries out a single interaction step between the agent and the environment
+
+        Args:
+            net: DQN network
+            epsilon: value to determine likelihood of taking a random action
+            device: current device
+
+        Returns:
+            reward, done
+        """
+
+        action = self.get_action(net, epsilon, device)
+
+        # do step in the environment
+        new_state, reward, done, _ = self.env.step(action)
+
+        exp = Experience(self.state, action, reward, done, new_state)
+
+        self.replay_buffer.append(exp)
+
+        self.state = new_state
+        if done:
+            self.reset()
+        return reward, done
+
+
+class DQNLightning(pl.LightningModule):
+    """ Basic DQN Model """
+
+    def __init__(self, hparams: argparse.Namespace) -> None:
+        super().__init__()
+        self.hparams = hparams
+
+        self.env = gym.make(self.hparams.env)
+        obs_size = self.env.observation_space.shape[0]
+        n_actions = self.env.action_space.n
+
+        self.net = DQN(obs_size, n_actions)
+        self.target_net = DQN(obs_size, n_actions)
+
+        self.buffer = ReplayBuffer(self.hparams.replay_size)
+        self.agent = Agent(self.env, self.buffer)
+        self.total_reward = 0
+        self.episode_reward = 0
+        self.populate(self.hparams.warm_start_steps)
+
+    def populate(self, steps: int = 1000) -> None:
+        """
+        Carries out several random steps through the environment to initially fill
+        up the replay buffer with experiences
+
+        Args:
+            steps: number of random steps to populate the buffer with
+        """
+        for i in range(steps):
+            self.agent.play_step(self.net, epsilon=1.0)
+
+    def forward(self, x: torch.Tensor) -> torch.Tensor:
+        """
+        Passes in a state x through the network and gets the q_values of each action as an output
+
+        Args:
+            x: environment state
+
+        Returns:
+            q values
+        """
+        output = self.net(x)
+        return output
+
+    def dqn_mse_loss(self, batch: Tuple[torch.Tensor, torch.Tensor]) -> torch.Tensor:
+        """
+        Calculates the mse loss using a mini batch from the replay buffer
+
+        Args:
+            batch: current mini batch of replay data
+
+        Returns:
+            loss
+        """
+        states, actions, rewards, dones, next_states = batch
+
+        state_action_values = self.net(states).gather(1, actions.unsqueeze(-1)).squeeze(-1)
+
+        with torch.no_grad():
+            next_state_values = self.target_net(next_states).max(1)[0]
+            next_state_values[dones] = 0.0
+            next_state_values = next_state_values.detach()
+
+        expected_state_action_values = next_state_values * self.hparams.gamma + rewards
+
+        return nn.MSELoss()(state_action_values, expected_state_action_values)
+
+    def training_step(self, batch: Tuple[torch.Tensor, torch.Tensor], nb_batch) -> OrderedDict:
+        """
+        Carries out a single step through the environment to update the replay buffer.
+        Then calculates loss based on the minibatch recieved
+
+        Args:
+            batch: current mini batch of replay data
+            nb_batch: batch number
+
+        Returns:
+            Training loss and log metrics
+        """
+        device = self.get_device(batch)
+        epsilon = max(self.hparams.eps_end, self.hparams.eps_start -
+                      self.global_step + 1 / self.hparams.eps_last_frame)
+
+        # step through environment with agent
+        reward, done = self.agent.play_step(self.net, epsilon, device)
+        self.episode_reward += reward
+
+        # calculates training loss
+        loss = self.dqn_mse_loss(batch)
+
+        if self.trainer.use_dp or self.trainer.use_ddp2:
+            loss = loss.unsqueeze(0)
+
+        if done:
+            self.total_reward = self.episode_reward
+            self.episode_reward = 0
+
+        # Soft update of target network
+        if self.global_step % self.hparams.sync_rate == 0:
+            self.target_net.load_state_dict(self.net.state_dict())
+
+        log = {'total_reward': torch.tensor(self.total_reward).to(device),
+               'reward': torch.tensor(reward).to(device),
+               'steps': torch.tensor(self.global_step).to(device)}
+
+        return OrderedDict({'loss': loss, 'log': log, 'progress_bar': log})
+
+    def configure_optimizers(self) -> List[Optimizer]:
+        """ Initialize Adam optimizer"""
+        optimizer = optim.Adam(self.net.parameters(), lr=self.hparams.lr)
+        return [optimizer]
+
+    def __dataloader(self) -> DataLoader:
+        """Initialize the Replay Buffer dataset used for retrieving experiences"""
+        dataset = RLDataset(self.buffer, self.hparams.episode_length)
+        dataloader = DataLoader(dataset=dataset,
+                                batch_size=self.hparams.batch_size,
+                                sampler=None
+                                )
+        return dataloader
+
+    def train_dataloader(self) -> DataLoader:
+        """Get train loader"""
+        return self.__dataloader()
+
+    def get_device(self, batch) -> str:
+        """Retrieve device currently being used by minibatch"""
+        return batch[0].device.index if self.on_gpu else 'cpu'
+
+
+def main(hparams) -> None:
+    model = DQNLightning(hparams)
+
+    trainer = pl.Trainer(
+        gpus=1,
+        distributed_backend='dp',
+        early_stop_callback=False,
+        val_check_interval=100
+    )
+
+    trainer.fit(model)
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    torch.manual_seed(0)
+    np.random.seed(0)
+
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
+    parser.add_argument("--batch_size", type=int, default=16, help="size of the batches")
+    parser.add_argument("--lr", type=float, default=1e-2, help="learning rate")
+    parser.add_argument("--env", type=str, default="CartPole-v0", help="gym environment tag")
+    parser.add_argument("--gamma", type=float, default=0.99, help="discount factor")
+    parser.add_argument("--sync_rate", type=int, default=10,
+                        help="how many frames do we update the target network")
+    parser.add_argument("--replay_size", type=int, default=1000,
+                        help="capacity of the replay buffer")
+    parser.add_argument("--warm_start_size", type=int, default=1000,
+                        help="how many samples do we use to fill our buffer at the start of training")
+    parser.add_argument("--eps_last_frame", type=int, default=1000,
+                        help="what frame should epsilon stop decaying")
+    parser.add_argument("--eps_start", type=float, default=1.0, help="starting value of epsilon")
+    parser.add_argument("--eps_end", type=float, default=0.01, help="final value of epsilon")
+    parser.add_argument("--episode_length", type=int, default=200, help="max length of an episode")
+    parser.add_argument("--max_episode_reward", type=int, default=200,
+                        help="max episode reward in the environment")
+    parser.add_argument("--warm_start_steps", type=int, default=1000,
+                        help="max episode reward in the environment")
+
+    args = parser.parse_args()
+
+    main(args)
diff --git a/pl_examples/requirements.txt b/pl_examples/requirements.txt
index d9f4c0d808165..24506bbba7964 100644
--- a/pl_examples/requirements.txt
+++ b/pl_examples/requirements.txt
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
-torchvision>=0.4.0
\ No newline at end of file
+torchvision>=0.4.0
+gym>=0.17.0
\ No newline at end of file