{"title":"GameTrust Games","description":"\u003cp\u003eGameTrust Games was the publishing label of GameStop, the video game retailer headquartered in Grapevine, Texas. GameStop announced it on April 18, 2016, and with it the company moved from selling games to helping bring them to market. GameTrust was not built as a traditional big-budget publisher. It ran as a separate vertical inside GameStop, set up as a label for mid-sized developers, and it targeted projects with development budgets of up to $15 million. Every deal was custom-built. Studios kept full rights to their own intellectual property, GameStop took no part in creative decisions, and the money could either get a nearly finished game over the line or start a new one from scratch. The label was led by Mark Stanley, GameStop's VP of Internal Development and Diversification, who had worked in publishing at PlayStation in Latin America. Its launch partners were Insomniac Games, Ready at Dawn, Tequila Works and Frozenbyte, the studios behind Song of the Deep, The Order: 1886, Deadlight and Rime, and the Trine series. The plan called for 5 to 10 games a year, with talks under way with about 20 more developers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe pitch to those studios was GameStop's reach as a retailer. That meant promotion in its stores, on its website and through the PowerUp Rewards loyalty program and its 44 million members, plus merchandise through sister company ThinkGeek and releases on every major platform, including PSN, Xbox Live and Steam. Two games carry the GameTrust Games name on Steam, and both show what the model was for. Song of the Deep, from Insomniac Games, came out on July 11, 2016. It is a side-scrolling underwater exploration game from a studio best known for big console action. Has-Been Heroes, from Trine developer Frozenbyte, followed on Nintendo Switch on March 28, 2017, a day after it reached Steam. It is a lane-based roguelike that mixes strategy and real-time action, starring a band of aging heroes on one last job: escorting the King's twin princesses to school. Frozenbyte kept building on it. A large free expansion in November 2017, including on Switch, added the Sky Temple region, an Epic Quest mode with the Trine heroes Amadeus, Pontius and Zoya as playable characters, Challenge and Seed modes, more than 120 new spells and more than 150 new items. The GameTrust catalog is small, but it shows a major retailer backing independent studios on their own terms, and Has-Been Heroes is still the clearest example of that idea in action.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"has-been-heroes-switch","title":"Has Been Heroes","description":"\u003cp class=\"lead\"\u003eHas-Been Heroes is a lane-based roguelike of strategy and action from Frozenbyte, the Finnish studio behind Trine. King Fortinbrax has one last quest for his oldest, most trusted champions: escort the twin Princesses Avaline and Beatrix to a faraway Academy. The road there is long, the Great Ghoul has filled it with an endless army of undead, and permadeath waits for any party that slips.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eOne Last Quest Before Retirement\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCrux, the giant-wrestling warrior, and Metacles, the wise monk, are well past their prime. Recruiting a young and eager Rogue helps, if only because someone in the group can finally read the tiny print on those potion bottles. The humor is irreverent and the premise sounds gloriously low-stakes, yet the trip to school turns out to be one of the more demanding journeys in the genre. Along the way you reunite with long-lost companions, among them an Anthropologist turned Mexican Wrestler, each bringing a different approach to the fight.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eThree Heroes, Three Lanes\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBattles play out across three horizontal lanes, with one hero standing in each as monsters advance from the far side of the screen. Every enemy carries stamina that has to be stripped away before attacks deal real damage, and each hero strikes a different number of times, so the trick is matching the right fighter to the right target and swapping lanes at the right moment. Melee cooldowns and spell timers tick away in a blend of turn-based planning and real-time pressure. The basics click within minutes; the depth takes far longer to master.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eSpells, Items and Routes\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cdl\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003eElemental spells\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003eSpells carry elements that interact with one another, and combining them is how a modest party becomes a wrecking crew. The more elements you gather, the more devastating the combinations become, so the spells you pick up early shape every decision that follows.\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003eGame-changing items\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003eHundreds of items boost your heroes in ways large and small, from simple stat gains to effects that change how a hero fights. Finding the one item that completes a build is among the most satisfying moments the game has to offer.\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003eRandomized maps\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003eEach region is a randomly generated map of crossroads where you choose between merchants, spell vendors, treasure chests and other surprises. Plotting a route that strengthens the party without pressing your luck too far into the darkness is a strategic layer all its own.\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003c\/dl\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eRoguelike to the Core\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePermadeath is the rule. Fall in battle and the journey starts over from the beginning, but randomized maps, spells, items and enemies mean the next attempt never plays out the same way twice.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUnlockable heroes keep the roster growing, including a band of Young Heroes to discover, so the team you lead deep into your run history can look nothing like the one that first set out.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEpic Quest raises the stakes with a harder mode in which heroes begin without any spells, and unlocking it brings Amadeus the Wizard, Pontius the Knight and Zoya the Thief from Trine into the party.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Sky Temple adds a new region to the main journey, where every run brings unique twists along with new enemies and new bosses to overcome.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChallenge Mode drops you into a single difficult battle with a pre-set lineup of heroes, items and spells, and completing one unlocks a new Young Hero for your roster.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSeed Mode lets you share a seed number so friends can play the exact same run you did, with the clock running until the finish so you can compare results.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eGather the Party\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf you like your strategy sharp and your roguelikes unforgiving, Has-Been Heroes is a road trip worth taking. Pick your three heroes, plan your route and see how far a veteran party can go before the Great Ghoul sends them back to the start. The princesses are not going to walk themselves to school.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"GameTrust Games","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":31426558918742,"sku":"AMZ_B06XWFNH23","price":29.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0875\/3268\/files\/card-has-been-heroes-nintendo-switch-game.jpg?v=1792628003"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.pjsgames.com\/en-ch\/collections\/gametrust-games.oembed","provider":"PJ's Games","version":"1.0","type":"link"}