The following interview with Sam & Max Season One lead designer Dave Grossman was published on 1up.com just before Abe Lincoln Must Die was released in March of 2007. You can read the original here.

You guys have been pushing along pretty well at this point with timely releases. Are you finding that sustaining the game on a monthly basis is less challenging/as challenging/more challenging than anticipated?

We've wound up doing more work than we initially planned for, but the overall level of madness is about what I expected. It was clear going in that this was a slightly insane thing to do, but so long as the insanity remains slight we're fine. I'm happy to report that we remain on track for monthly releases for the rest of the season, and we intend to keep making games this way for the foreseeable future.


Does having GameTap watching over you guys make it kind of impossible to miss deadlines?

In a way, but no more so than any other developer/publisher relationship that I'm aware of. They've been understanding, flexible and fair with us. But hitting our deadlines is a necessity regardless of whether there's a publisher involved or not. We have too much to do to be letting things slip.


Has anything in particular come up on the development side that's surprised you about the monthly schedule?

Two things: I thought it would be harder to produce the art on that kind of a schedule, and I thought it would be easier to do the designs. It always seems like Brendan and I are gumming up the works while all the artists are humming along in harmonious efficiency. I suppose that could just be my biased perspective, but the fact remains that game design doesn't scale down neatly, and inventing six small games is considerably more work than one game six times as large (which we expected, but not to such a degree).


What teasers can you tell us about Episode 4's story? What's the theme this time around?

Episode 4 is mainly about making fun of the underbelly of Washington DC and the noble office of the presidency. Sam and Max drive onto the White House lawn in the first five minutes. There is trickery and deceit, a head-bonk, a couple of familiar faces, and some mention of all of the following: Lithuania, high fructose corn syrup, Arbor Day, and George Washington's forehead. Now, doesn't that sound appealing?


Okay, now tell us more.

Max runs for president, and there's another really cool song.


Episode 3 liked its songs very much. Ever give any thought to releasing a soundtrack for the game, either online or in disc form?

We've been putting some of the songs up on the Telltale Games website, and there will be more to come. Check back often!

Note -- there is now a full Season One soundtrack available! Click here to buy it!


What's your one favorite detail about Episode 4?

Chuck Jordan (Curse of Monkey Island) is my favorite detail. He wrote quite a bit of the dialog this time around, and he cracks me up relentlessly.