Exclusive Hands-On Preview Slip Space: The Burma-Shave Analogy Developer: Dan Markosian Publisher: TBD Genre: Independent Developer/Adventure Release Date: TBD Platform: Exclusive Hands-On Preview by Randy Sluganski March 9, 2009

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From 1925 to 1963, Burma Shave billboards dotted the American landscape. Though most of are not old enough to remember ever having seen one of these actual billboards, many of us are aware of the either the Burma Shave brushless shaving cream brand or their highly successful advertising gimmick that typically featured a series of six billboards along an American highway. The first five billboards were usually a rhyming limerick and the sixth billboard the name of the product:

• Don't lose / Your head / To gain a minute / You need your head / Your brains are in it / Burma-Shave
• Slow down, Pa / Sakes alive / Ma missed signs / Four / And five / Burma Shave
• The wolf / Is shaved / So neat and trim / Red Riding Hood / Is chasing him / Burma-Shave

Even if you aren’t familiar with the Burma Shave brand per se, their unique form of advertising has influenced popular culture and may be familiar from other sources. Thus is the power of advertsing.

All of which brings me to Slip Space: The Burma-Shave Analogy (a title that I just love), an independently developed adventure game that features Rhem-like puzzles in a Myst-like atmosphere.

Per developer Dan Markosian, Slip Space is the theory that our perception of reality is based on the frequency with which we view units-of-now. As the frequency changes, so does reality which adds dimensions to time without the hassle of time travel (makes sense to me, but then I did play the preview version!). So what is particularly interesting is that the Slip Space theory can be applied to any number of situations and thus subsequent sequels.

For the initial installment though, Slip Space: The Burma-Shave Analogy pits you, as an unwilling agent of the Strategic Intelligence Alliance (SIA), to find Webster Wotsletter, the inventor of Slip Space technology, and his five sons, and the most obvious place to begin your search is at a disappearing, reappearing structure known as The Golden Age of Advertising Building.

After a very long and impressive opening cut-scene – especially for an independently developed adventure game – the player must solve a series of puzzles that will both temporarily stop the building from disappearing and solve a code that allows access to the building.

Once inside, the player is introduced to the theory of shifting temporal perception and through a series of posters and advertisements, learns about Webster’s career and family. We are then transported to the central environment of the game, the home of Webster and his five sons, the Shave.

The player must now solve a puzzle to gain access to each son’s hut. It is at this point that the game will become mostly non-linear as you will be transported to other environments to continue the search. And it is also at this point that my too-short, hands-on preview came to an end.

Slip Space: The Burma-Shave Analogy is an interesting concept with much potential. Though the in-game graphics betray their slim budget, the quality of the writing is outstanding and the few cut-scenes I saw are impressive. The puzzles - which are large and integrated into the environment – are geared towards cognitive gamers who enjoyed games like Rhem and Schizm.

Once word gets around, Slip Space should not have a problem finding a publisher. We’ll keep you updated as to the game’s progress and don’t forget to also check out our exclusive Slip Space: The Burma-Shave Analogy Developer’s Journal from Dan Markosian.

Additional Screenshots