With less than a week to go before the launch of Fallout 4, Bethesda has released the free mobile Pip-Boy companion app for iOS and Android this morning. It's a cute, semi-functional little program that gives a small taste of the Wasteland ahead of the game's full release.

We can't actually show you the Pip-Boy app synced to our copy of Fallout 4 without breaking an embargo on early coverage, but the included "demo mode" (shown in the above video) shows off all the major features without an active game connection.

We can tell you that connecting the app to the game is pretty simple. After you toggle a "Pip-Boy App Enabled" setting in the game, the mobile app can scan for and find any copies running on the same local Wi-Fi network. After that initial scan, you can reconnect to the same local IP address instantly for subsequent uses. The app only works when it can actively find the game locally, though, so you're out of luck if you want to check on your Fallout 4 stats when you're on the go.

After that simple setup, the mobile app provides a fully navigable replica of the Pip-Boy screen as it appears in the game. That means access to data on your stats, inventory, missions, and map. You can look through the available radio stations, too, but if there is a way to get those stations to play through the smartphone's speakers, we couldn't find it (toggling through stations on the app also seems to have no effect on the radio playing in the game when connected).

The mobile Pip-Boy operates independently of the one shown in the game, so you can look at the map on one while sorting through your inventory on the other, if you really want to. You can also perform some extremely basic game interactions by tapping on the app's screen, such as dropping items or assigning favorites for quick, one-button selection in the game. We expect most players will simply keep their phone tuned to the map screen, though, and make quick glances down as they explore the post-apocalyptic world.

The Pip-Boy mobile app also lets you play small mini-games in the form of "holotapes" found around the post-apocalyptic world. The demo mode features one, Atomic Command, which plays like a simplified touch-screen version of the arcade classic Missile Command, as shown in the above video. It's cute enough, but we expect most people will play it once and then forget about it.

With the app installed, we've also had a chance to try playingwith a huge, functional Pip-Boy on our wrists, courtesy of the wearable plastic enclosure that comes with the limited Pip-Boy Edition of the game . All in all, wearing a real Pip-Boy while playingends up being a better idea in theory than in practice. The whole unit is heavy enough on the forearm to be distracting, and the bulk of the enclosure gets in the way if you're trying to rest your palms while playing with a keyboard or a mouse.

These effects are a bit less pronounced when using a handheld controller, but in that case you have to generally let go of the controller and twist your wrist up to look at the phone display, negating any potential convenience that might be had. Based on our initial impressions, the Pip-Boy edition seems better suited as a Halloween prop or conversation piece than an actual gameplay tool.

While the Pip-Boy app will definitely see some use as a companion to Fallout 4—especially for those wanting a convenient second-screen map—its main function right now is to help make the wait for the game's release seem a little less interminable. Go download it if you need a quick hit of second-hand nuclear fallout to get you through the next few days.