Dave Grossman (game developer)

Dave Grossman is an American game programmer and game designer, most known for his work at Telltale Games and early work at LucasArts. He has also written several children's books, and a book of "guy poetry" called Ode to the Stuff in the Sink.[1]

Dave Grossman
Dave Grossman at the Comic-Con 2007
Occupation(s)Video game designer, programmer

Game industry career

Grossman joined Lucasfilm Games, later known as LucasArts in 1989.[2] At LucasArts, Grossman wrote and programmed The Secret of Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge together with Ron Gilbert and Tim Schafer.[3] He later co-designed Day of the Tentacle.[4]

Grossman quit LucasArts in 1994 to begin a freelance career. For Humongous Entertainment, a company co-founded by Ron Gilbert,[2] he helped create many critically acclaimed games aimed at children, such as the Pajama Sam series.[5] Later he also wrote children's games for Hulabee Entertainment and Disney.

He then designed adventure games at Telltale Games, a company founded by LucasArts veterans.[6] He joined Telltale in 2005 as lead designer.[2] In 2009, he returned to his Monkey Island roots, as Design Director[7] on Telltale Games' episodic Tales of Monkey Island.[3]

He left Telltale in August 2014 and joined Amazon Alexa gaming specialists, Reactive Studios, in November 2014 as Chief Creative Officer.[8] Reactive Studios has since changed its name to EarPlay.[9]

In 2020 he joined Ron Gilbert in developing Return to Monkey Island. The game was released in 2022.[10]

Children's books

Lyrick Publishing published three books written by Grossman that were based on characters from Humongous Entertainment's games. They were Freddi Fish: The Big Froople Match,[11] Pajama Sam: Mission to the Moon,[12] and Freddi Fish: The Missing Letters Mystery.[13]

For Fisher-Price/Nickelodeon, Grossman authored two interactive books, SpongeBob SquarePants: Sleepy Time and Fairly OddParents: Squawkers.[14]

Other works

Grossman claimed that his interests in other works were often inspired by his father: "I guess I've inherited a certain restless tinkerer's curiosity from my father (who mainly works in words, wood, photography and architecture, often in combination)." These include his interests in writing, drawing, sculpture, and music.[2]

Grossman is the author of "Ode to the Stuff in the Sink: A Book of Guy Poetry," which he self-published in 2002. It contains a selection of illustrated poems dedicated to different aspects of male life, including inability to dance, old stuff in the fridge, and unwillingness to clean anything. The book is available from Dave Grossman's personal website, Phrenopolis.com.[15] Many of the poems were first published in his Poem of the Week electronic mailing list.[16]

Grossman co-designed a successful robot toy for Fisher-Price.

Game contributions
Year Title Role Developer
1990 The Secret of Monkey Island Programmer, designer Lucasfilm Games
1991 Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge Programmer LucasArts
1993 Day of the Tentacle Director, producer, design, programmer
1996 Pajama Sam: No Need to Hide When It's Dark Outside Writer Humongous Entertainment
1998 Pajama Sam 2: Thunder and Lightning Aren't so Frightening
2000 Pajama Sam 3: You Are What You Eat from Your Head to Your Feet
2002 Moop and Dreadly in the Treasure on Bing Bong Island Hulabee Entertainment
Ollo in the Sunny Valley Fair
2003 Piglet's Big Game
2005 Bone: Out from Boneville Writer, designer Telltale Games
2006 – 2007 Sam & Max Save the World
2007 – 2008 Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space
2008 Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People Director of design
2009 – 2010 Tales of Monkey Island
2010 – 2011 Back to the Future: The Game
2022 Return to Monkey Island Design, writer Terrible Toybox

Grossman also made contributions to The Dig, Total Annihilation, and Insecticide, and was a script editor on Voodoo Vince.[5] He also designed the trophies / Steam achievements for the remastered version of Day of the Tentacle.

References
  1. "Telltale Games - Ode to the Stuff in the Sink". Archived from the original on March 25, 2009. Retrieved March 15, 2009.
  2. Yalon, Jonathan; Jong, Philip (September 1, 2009). "Dave Grossman - Telltale Games - Interview". Adventure Classic Gaming. Archived from the original on March 30, 2014. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  3. Remo, Chris (July 6, 2009). "Back in the Water: The Monkey Island Interview". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on February 14, 2011. Retrieved December 10, 2010.
  4. "Behind the Scenes: Maniac Mansion + Day of the Tentacle". GamesTM. The Ultimate Retro Companion. Imagine Publishing (3): 22–27. 2010. ISSN 1448-2606. OCLC 173412381.
  5. Cifaldi, Frank (July 26, 2006). "Telltale Tells All (Pt. 1) - An Interview with Dave Grossman". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on May 12, 2009. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
  6. "Telltale Games - Our Team". Archived from the original on May 16, 2006. Retrieved February 5, 2006.
  7. "The Team". Telltale Games. Archived from the original on June 2, 2009. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
  8. Andreadis, Kosta (November 18, 2014). "Dave Grossman Joins Reactive Studios as Chief Creative Officer". IGN. Archived from the original on November 21, 2014. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  9. "Earplay Home". Earplay. Archived from the original on August 12, 2018. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
  10. Morganti, Emily (April 14, 2022). "Ron Gilbert, Dave Grossman – Return to Monkey Island". Adventure Gamers. Archived from the original on April 14, 2022. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
  11. Grossman, Dave (July 2000). Freddi Fish: The Big Froople Match. Allen, Texas: Lyrick Studios. ISBN 1-57064-947-2.
  12. Grossman, Dave (August 28, 2000). Pajama Sam: Mission to the Moon. Allen, Texas: Lyrick Studios. ISBN 1-57064-950-2.
  13. Grossman, Dave; Greenfield, N. S. (August 2000). Freddi Fish: The Missing Letters Mystery. Allen, Texas: Lyrick Studios. ISBN 1-57064-948-0.
  14. "Books I Wrote". Dave Grossman. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
  15. "Ode to the Stuff in the Sink". Phrenopolis. Archived from the original on January 30, 2004. Retrieved May 30, 2005.
  16. "Poem of the Week". Phrenopolis. Archived from the original on June 25, 2009. Retrieved February 5, 2006.
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