Dave Grossman
Encyclopedia
Dave Grossman is a 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.
, 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.
Today he designs adventure games at Telltale Games
, a company founded by LucasArts veterans. In 2009 he returned to his Monkey Island roots, as Design Director on Telltale Games' episodic Tales of Monkey Island
.
For Fisher-Price/Nickelodeon, Grossman authored two interactive books, SpongeBob SquarePants: Sleepy Time and Fairly OddParents: Squawkers.
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.
Grossman also made contributions to The Dig
, Total Annihilation
, and Insecticide
, and was a script editor on Voodoo Vince
.
Game programmer
A game programmer is a software engineer, programmer, or computer scientist who primarily develops codebase for video games or related software, such as game development tools. Game programming has many specialized disciplines all of which fall under the umbrella term of "game programmer"...
and game designer, most known for his work at Telltale Games
Telltale Games
Telltale Games is a leading independent digital first publisher and game developer founded in June 2004 as Telltale, Incorporated. Based in San Rafael, California, the studio includes designers formerly employed by LucasArts...
and early work at LucasArts
LucasArts
LucasArts Entertainment Company, LLC is an American video game developer and publisher. The company was once famous for its innovative line of graphic adventure games, the critical and commercial success of which peaked in the mid 1990s...
. 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
At LucasArtsLucasArts
LucasArts Entertainment Company, LLC is an American video game developer and publisher. The company was once famous for its innovative line of graphic adventure games, the critical and commercial success of which peaked in the mid 1990s...
, Grossman wrote and programmed The Secret of Monkey Island
The Secret of Monkey Island
The Secret of Monkey Island is a graphic adventure game developed by Lucasfilm Games and published by the same company after its name was changed to LucasArts. The game spawned a number of sequels, collectively known as the Monkey Island series...
and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge
Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge
Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge is an adventure game developed and published by LucasArts in 1991. It was the second game of the Monkey Island series, following The Secret of Monkey Island, and the sixth LucasArts game to use the SCUMM engine. It was the first game to use the iMUSE sound...
together with Ron Gilbert
Ron Gilbert
Ron Gilbert is an American computer game designer, programmer, and producer, best known for his work on several classic LucasArts adventure games, including Maniac Mansion and the first two Monkey Island games. Gilbert was also co-founder of Humongous Entertainment and its sister company Cavedog...
and Tim Schafer
Tim Schafer
Timothy Schafer is an American computer game designer. He founded Double Fine Productions in January 2000, after having spent over a decade at LucasArts...
. He later co-designed Day of the Tentacle
Day of the Tentacle
Day of the Tentacle, also known as Maniac Mansion II: Day of the Tentacle, is a 1993 graphic adventure game developed and published by LucasArts. It is the sequel to the 1987 game Maniac Mansion...
.
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
Pajama Sam
The Pajama Sam series is a collection of point-and-click children's adventure and puzzle games originally created by Humongous Entertainment.-Character:...
series. Later he also wrote children's games for Hulabee Entertainment and Disney.
Today he designs adventure games at Telltale Games
Telltale Games
Telltale Games is a leading independent digital first publisher and game developer founded in June 2004 as Telltale, Incorporated. Based in San Rafael, California, the studio includes designers formerly employed by LucasArts...
, a company founded by LucasArts veterans. In 2009 he returned to his Monkey Island roots, as Design Director on Telltale Games' episodic Tales of Monkey Island
Tales of Monkey Island
Tales of Monkey Island is a 2009 graphic adventure video game developed by Telltale Games and LucasArts. It is the fifth game in the Monkey Island series, released nearly a decade after the previous installment, Escape from Monkey Island. Developed for Windows and the Wii console, the game was...
.
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 IslandThe Secret of Monkey IslandThe Secret of Monkey Island is a graphic adventure game developed by Lucasfilm Games and published by the same company after its name was changed to LucasArts. The game spawned a number of sequels, collectively known as the Monkey Island series...
(1990), JVC, LucasArts - Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's RevengeMonkey Island 2: LeChuck's RevengeMonkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge is an adventure game developed and published by LucasArts in 1991. It was the second game of the Monkey Island series, following The Secret of Monkey Island, and the sixth LucasArts game to use the SCUMM engine. It was the first game to use the iMUSE sound...
(1991), LucasArts - Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle (1993), LucasArts
- Pajama Sam In: No Need To Hide When It's Dark OutsidePajama Sam In: No Need To Hide When It's Dark OutsidePajama Sam: No Need To Hide When It's Dark Outside is a 1996 children's point-and-click adventure game originally released for PC and Mac.The first game of the Pajama Sam franchise, it features the titular character entering the "Land of Darkness" through his closet to capture Darkness himself and...
(1996), Humongous Entertainment - Pajama Sam 2: Thunder and Lightning Aren't so FrighteningPajama Sam 2: Thunder and Lightning Aren't so FrighteningPajama Sam 2 Thunder and Lightning Aren't So Frightening Cover is a 1998 children's point-and-click adventure game originally released for PC and Mac...
(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 FeetPajama Sam 3: You Are What You Eat From Your Head To Your FeetPajama Sam 3: You Are What You Eat From Your Head To Your Feet is an adventure game developed by Humongous Entertainment, published by Runecraft and distributed by Infogrames for the Microsoft Windows and Macintosh operating systems...
(2000), Humongous Entertainment - Moop and Dreadly: The Treasure on Bing Bong Island (2001), Hulabee/Plaid Banana
- Ollo in The Sunny Valley Fair (2002), Hulabee/Plaid Banana
- Piglet's Big GamePiglet's Big GameDisney's Piglet's Big Game is a action-adventure video game by Gotham Games, Disney Interactive Studios and Doki Denki Studio. The game centers around Piglet and how he tries to show how he can help...
(2003), Disney - BoneBone (comics)Bone is an independently published graphic novel series originally serialized in 55 irregularly released issues from 1991 to 2004. Bone was drawn and written by Jeff Smith....
(episodicEpisodic gamesAn episodic video game is a video game of a shorter length that is commercially released as an installment to a continuous and larger series. Episodic games differ from conventional video games in that they often contain less content but are developed on a more frequent basis.Such a series may or...
), Telltale GamesTelltale GamesTelltale Games is a leading independent digital first publisher and game developer founded in June 2004 as Telltale, Incorporated. Based in San Rafael, California, the studio includes designers formerly employed by LucasArts... - Sam & Max Season One (episodicEpisodic gamesAn episodic video game is a video game of a shorter length that is commercially released as an installment to a continuous and larger series. Episodic games differ from conventional video games in that they often contain less content but are developed on a more frequent basis.Such a series may or...
, "Season One" 2006–07), Telltale GamesTelltale GamesTelltale Games is a leading independent digital first publisher and game developer founded in June 2004 as Telltale, Incorporated. Based in San Rafael, California, the studio includes designers formerly employed by LucasArts... - Sam & Max Season TwoSam & Max Season TwoSam & Max Beyond Time and Space, originally released as Sam & Max: Season Two, is an episodic series of adventure games by Telltale Games based around the characters of the Sam & Max comic series created by Steve Purcell and follows from Sam & Max Save the World.Season Two builds on Season One with...
(episodicEpisodic gamesAn episodic video game is a video game of a shorter length that is commercially released as an installment to a continuous and larger series. Episodic games differ from conventional video games in that they often contain less content but are developed on a more frequent basis.Such a series may or...
, "Season Two" 2007–08), Telltale GamesTelltale GamesTelltale Games is a leading independent digital first publisher and game developer founded in June 2004 as Telltale, Incorporated. Based in San Rafael, California, the studio includes designers formerly employed by LucasArts... - Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive PeopleStrong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive PeopleStrong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People is an episodic point-and-click adventure game developed by Telltale Games based on the Homestar Runner web cartoon, with Strong Bad as the lead character. A total of five episodes were released for WiiWare and Windows between August 11, 2008 and...
(episodicEpisodic gamesAn episodic video game is a video game of a shorter length that is commercially released as an installment to a continuous and larger series. Episodic games differ from conventional video games in that they often contain less content but are developed on a more frequent basis.Such a series may or...
, 2008), Telltale GamesTelltale GamesTelltale Games is a leading independent digital first publisher and game developer founded in June 2004 as Telltale, Incorporated. Based in San Rafael, California, the studio includes designers formerly employed by LucasArts... - Tales of Monkey IslandTales of Monkey IslandTales of Monkey Island is a 2009 graphic adventure video game developed by Telltale Games and LucasArts. It is the fifth game in the Monkey Island series, released nearly a decade after the previous installment, Escape from Monkey Island. Developed for Windows and the Wii console, the game was...
(2009–10) Telltale GamesTelltale GamesTelltale Games is a leading independent digital first publisher and game developer founded in June 2004 as Telltale, Incorporated. Based in San Rafael, California, the studio includes designers formerly employed by LucasArts... - Back to the Future: The GameBack to the Future: The GameBack to the Future: The Game is a graphic adventure video game based on the Back to the Future film franchise. The game was developed by Telltale Games as part of a licensing deal with Universal Pictures. Bob Gale, co-creator, co-writer and co-producer of the film trilogy, assisted Telltale in...
(2010–11) Telltale GamesTelltale GamesTelltale Games is a leading independent digital first publisher and game developer founded in June 2004 as Telltale, Incorporated. Based in San Rafael, California, the studio includes designers formerly employed by LucasArts...
Grossman also made contributions to The Dig
The Dig
The Dig is a graphical adventure game developed by LucasArts and released in 1995, and a game based on an idea for an Amazing Stories episode by Steven Spielberg...
, Total Annihilation
Total Annihilation
Total Annihilation is a real-time strategy video game created by Cavedog Entertainment, a sub-division of Humongous Entertainment, and released on September 30, 1997 by GT Interactive for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS. It was the first RTS game to feature 3D units and terrain...
, and Insecticide
Insecticide (video game)
Insecticide is a story-driven action-adventure game by Crackpot Entertainment and published by Gamecock Media Group for Nintendo DS, and Windows...
, and was a script editor on Voodoo Vince
Voodoo Vince
Voodoo Vince is a video game for the Xbox, created by Clayton Kauzlaric, developed by Beep Industries and published by Microsoft Game Studios...
.