Playing Offline
Setting Up for Offline Gameplay
Catastrophic Inversion does not require Internet access. On a general level, neither does the Meta Quest Operating System.
If you are playing solo, you can play anywhere you can take your headset. (Currently there's not much to do solo, but you can wander the maps for now and we'll add some NPCs at some point.)
If you are playing Multiplayer, you will still need a way to connect your headsets, since there is no direct-connect currently for Meta Quest. You have a couple of options/considerations:
Mobile Hotspot
If you are playing on a small enough arena with few enough people, you may be able to use your phone or another mobile hotspot to connect devices.
This game will not use your data at all unless you ask it to, so if you turn off other Meta features like notifications and updates, you will likely see minimal data usage on your hotspot plan.
The range might not be good enough for larger arenas.
Wi-Fi Router
A home Wi-Fi router with external antennae will get you much better range than a phone's hotspot.
You can get even better range if you bring a few routers and network them together via Ethernet or Mesh.
We have had good luck with a solid connection on an ASUS RT-AX1800S Wi-Fi 6 mesh network.Playing completely offline will make your headsets not want to connect to the hotspot automatically. We've found that if you set the router as a Metered Connection in the Wi-Fi settings, it won't make these checks as frequently and will auto-connect to the network more often.
Playing Outside
Due to the offline capabilities of the game, and the expense of large paid indoor spaces, you may consider playing outside.
If you're playing somewhere without electrical outlets and want to plug in your network, you may consider bringing a camping battery. A typical Wi-Fi router draws 5-20 watts, so even a smaller 100 Watt-hour battery will keep your router going for hours.
Please take precautions if playing outside: only play on even surfaces, always have a non-playing friend on lookout, and never expose your headset to rain or direct sunlight.