Draknek & Friends Official Podcast Episode 46: Adam Saltsman (Finji)
Jan 29, 2026
Adam Saltsman, co-founder of Finji and creator of indie hits like Corgi Space and Cannabalt, talks about his two decades making small, experimental games. He discusses approachability in design, using PICO-8 for puzzle experiments, prototyping surprises, level ordering, and balancing creative flexibility with production constraints. The conversation also touches on studio roles, ethics in business, and discoverability challenges in game distribution.
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Cross-Genre Play Fuels Design Learning
- Adam Saltsman treats different game genres as ways to learn how games work and borrow ideas across them.
- He deliberately makes games unlike his past work to discover new design lessons and approaches.
Make Design And Implementation Approachable
- Favor approachability in both concept and implementation to invite more players into unfamiliar game types.
- Simplify implementations so players can immediately perceive and explore core systems.
Pico-8 Sparked Playful Puzzle Experiments
- Adam describes how Pico-8's affordances match puzzle design and enabled many of his small experimental games.
- He found Pico-8 suited to the cheatable, exploratory puzzle style he wanted to explore.