The Dan and Ben franchise has officially gone episodic with the announcement of Revenge of the Balloon-Headed Mexican, the first in a new series of mini-puzzle-adventure games following the events of June 2009′s Time Gentlemen, Please!

Describing the game as “truly episodic in size and scope”, Zombie Cow sees these micro-ventures being roughly the same length as an episode of a TV show.

So far, this image is all we have to go by. Well, that and the extremely literal name.

This first episode will also represent a tonal shift for the series’ humor, which will now focus less on referential humor and more on the hijinks of the lovable protagonists. The big gameplay difference seems to be that Ben and Dan can now be split up and flipped between – which, barring one section in TGP wherein one character is unconscious, has never really happened before in a Ben and Dan game.

The best part of the press release: “It should be made clear that it’s not some sort of clever allegory or metaphor – our antagonist genuinely does have a balloon for a head.” Sounds about par for the course.

Press release: http://www.zombie-cow.com/?p=720

Buy the Ben There, Dan That! / Time Gentlemen, Please! for $4.99 via Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/37400/