MN Indie Gamedev Microtalks 2026

by Martin Grider, Chip Pedersen, and Samuel Fletcher | at Minnebar20 | 4:10 – 4:50 | View Schedule

5-10 speakers who are game developers in some capacity, talking about their games and/or their experiences.

We'll update this description with short blurbs from each of the speakers as they are locked-in.

For example:

Martin Grider will talk about his exploration of game design ideas related to hexagons with rounded (convex and concave) edges.

Chip Pedersen What does a retired Game Executive do, when they retire? They make the games they always wanted to do with today's tools.

Samuel Fletcher will be making a case for making games about making art, presenting some alternatives to gamification and showing his thoughts in practice in his music composition-based game Audionaut.

Jered Byford will discuss the implementation, probability, and psychology of randomness in board games.

Martin Grider

Martin Grider is a game designer and contract software developer (mostly native iOS). He releases games periodically at Abstract Puzzle, and writes about games and game development on his blog at chesstris.com.

Links:

Chip Pedersen

With over 35 years in the tech industry, including 21 years in gaming, Chip Pedersen is a seasoned veteran and innovator in interactive entertainment. He has held senior leadership roles at Microsoft Game Studios, Activision/Blizzard, ZeroLight, and his own game studio. Chip played a pivotal role in the launch of the original Xbox and has contributed to the release of over 100 titles across nearly every gaming platform.

Samuel Fletcher

Samuel Fletcher is an independent game maker and MFA graduate of the NYU Game Center, currently working on Audionaut. He is interested in form despite being an anti-formalist, and explores art, play, and ritual in games. You can find him on 🎮𝖎𝖙𝖈𝖍.𝖎𝖔 and 🦋𝒃𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒌𝒚.