Mobile network provider Three has teamed up with Snapchat to use the World Cup to launch the first sponsored Snappable AR lens.

From Today (15 June), a Puggerfly, the AR pet which featured in Three’s recent Go Snap ad campaign, will appear within one of Snapchat’s recently-introduced augmented reality (AR) games lenses in a football face-off game. With Snappables, users use touch, motion, and facial expressions to take part in interactive games.

“We know how important big cultural moments are on Snapchat, and it is so exciting to bring Puggerfly back to the camera during the first weekend of the World Cup,” said David Norris, creative lead in the UK for Snapchat. “We’ve already enabled Snapchatters to play with their Puggerfly as it learnt to walk, dance and fly, so what a great way to continue the story by creating the pitch invading Puggerfly to launch the UK’s first Snappable.”

In this first sponsored Snappable, Snapchatters’ see their faces become a football rolling down a pitch as Three’s Puggerflies travel toward them. These Puggerflies have to be dodged by the user tilting their head left and right to avoid the rainbow weeing characters. A pair of counters keep track of the score and the amount of time that has been spent avoiding the Puggerflies. If the user is hit once they receive a yellow card, and the second time they do it will result in a red card – ending the game. Friends can also be invited to the game.

“Since the start of our partnership with Snapchat we have focused on creating innovation and true integration across our campaign, end to end,” said Kat Ward-Smith, director of brand and communications at Three. “We are proud to have created another first with Snap and the new Snappable Puggerfly game where customers will be able to use all the fun features of Snappables while avoiding getting sent off by Puggerfly.”