Five Nights at Freddy's AR: Special Delivery is available now in the Google Play Store

Fans of Five Nights at Freddy's have a brand new way to give themselves — and their friends — a good scare, as Freddy Fazbear and his friend come to life in the new mobile game, Five Nights at Freddy's AR: Special Delivery, out now for both Android and iOS.

Developed by Illumix and Scottgames, the new game is designed to be an immersive experience that expands the lore of the franchise and introduces the series' first-ever attempt at a PvP mode.

As you may have gathered from the title, FNAF AR: Special Delivery is built around augmented reality mechanics that require you to confront animatronic monstrosities that will stalk you wherever you go. If you're curious how that fits in with the lore of the FNAF universe, it's succinctly described in this excerpt from the brief announcing the game's release:

So that's the premise, but how does it play out on your phone? Well, unlike other location-based AR games that have you go out and search for Pokémon or other useful items, you use the in-game map to track any nearby Fazbear characters that might be headed towards your location. Just like the animatronic characters in other FNAF games, these all have homicidal tendencies, so you'll need to defend yourself once they arrive.

You are given some tools to defend yourself, but in classic FNAF style, these are the bare minimum and require quick reflexes. In this case, you're given a flashlight with the weakest battery ever, and a shocker that will temporarily disable the robot so it can't harm you.

Once they arrive, you'll hear the doorbell ring and, when you're ready, it's time to switch over to the AR camera mode to collect your special delivery.

This is the core part of the game, where you scan around your physical space with your phone's camera to try and find where the creature is going to charge at you from. Each Fazbear character has a special cloaking ability so that you'll only know where they are by paying specific attention to audio clues and degradation of the camera degradation and haptic feedback from the game.

The visual and audio effects really heighten the suspense, and the creepy shadow filter alone does a great job of creating a sinister atmosphere, even if you're just hanging out in a well-lit room in your house. When a character is ready to attack, the first thing you will see is its glowing eyes emerge. To defeat them, you'll need to wait for them to get right up in your face before give them a well-timed shock with your shocker. Time it right, and you win and collect some rewards. Time it wrong, and you'll get a decent jump scare and have your win streak reset back to zero.

I had a chance to play the game in early access, and I must admit the game gave me goosebumps and really had me sweating. I'm also a total sucker when it comes to jump scares in movies or games, and this game got me good several times.

Beyond the core gameplay described above, there's also a social element built into the game, where you can compare yourself against friends and other players on the in-game leaderboard. You're also able to send your own captured bots after your friends to try and put an end their win streaks.

The game also includes a shop where you can buy in-game currency to upgrade your animatronics in your workshop, but this seems like mostly cosmetic upgrades and you can turn off. This is a must-play if you're a FNAF fan, or just love giving yourself a good scare.