Dave Grossman

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.

Game industry career

Grossman joined Lucasfilm Games, later known as LucasArts in 1989. 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. He later co-designed Day of the Tentacle.

Grossman quit LucasArts in 1994 to begin a freelance career. For Humongous Entertainment, a company co-founded by Ron Gilbert, he helped create many critically acclaimed games aimed at children, such as the Pajama Sam series. 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. He joined Telltale in 2005 as lead designer. In 2009, he returned to his Monkey Island roots, as Design Director on Telltale Games' episodic Tales of Monkey Island.

He left Telltale in August 2014 and joined Reactive Studios in November 2014 as Chief Creative Officer. Reactive Studios has since changed its name to EarPlay.

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, Pajama Sam: Mission to the Moon and Freddi Fish: The Missing Letters Mystery.

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

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)." This include his interests in writing, drawing, sculpture, and music.

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. Many of the poems were first published in his Poem of the Week electronic mailing list.

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

Game contributions

• The Secret of Monkey Island (1990), JVC, LucasArts
• Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge (1991), LucasArts
• Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle (1993), LucasArts
• Pajama Sam In: No Need To Hide When It's Dark Outside (1996), Humongous Entertainment
• Pajama Sam 2: Thunder and Lightning Aren't so Frightening (1998), Humongous Entertainment
• Freddi Fish 4: The Case of the Hogfish Rustlers of Briny Gulch (1999), Humongous Entertainment
• Pajama Sam 3: You Are What You Eat From Your Head To Your Feet (2000), Humongous Entertainment
• Moop and Dreadly in the Treasure on Bing Bong Island (2001), Hulabee/Plaid Banana
• Ollo in the Sunny Valley Fair (2002), Hulabee/Plaid Banana
• Piglet's Big Game (2003), Disney
• Bone (episodic), Telltale Games
• Sam & Max Season One (episodic, "Season One" 2006–07), Telltale Games
• Sam & Max Season Two (episodic, "Season Two" 2007–08), Telltale Games
• Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People (episodic, 2008), Telltale Games
• Tales of Monkey Island (2009–10) Telltale Games
• Back to the Future: The Game (2010–11) Telltale Games

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