How to get a HTC VIVE for free using software and your smartphone

Cheating your way to a HTC VIVE is pretty easy. It doesn't involve breaking any hearts, glass windows, or hurting your wallet either. Sometime ago, I lamented at the double standards for the pricing disparity for the HTC Vive region to region.

That's changing, too slowly, and the VIVE is still well out of the reach of most gamers. First, there's the cost of a high end PC gaming rig, the headset itself, and with the rising cost of real-estate, rent, and a premium on space, the room to actually have a room-scale VR experience.

There's been a way to play VR games on your phone for quite some time, with solutions like the Google Cardboard, Google Daydream, and various iterations of the Samsung VR headsets.

If only there was some way to get your computer to talk to this hardware.

Well, there is! It's called RiftCat, and in Combination with VRidge (a piece of software you can download from the Google PlayStore onto your Android phone) - you can have a VIVE in your hands in literally no time.

Here's how to get it all working:

1. Install VRidge onto your SmartPhone
2. Download the RiftCat software to your PC
3. Install Steam VR (via your Steam Client)
4. Load up Rift Cat, open VRidge and follow the on screen instructions
5. Launch your Steam VR Compatible title and enjoy.

There are some restrictions, however. With the free version of the software, you can only play for ten minutes at a time, or you can pay EUR14.99 to have no restriction on your gameplay session length.

I had a go with Rise of the Tomb Raider and the Croft Manor DLC, and the experience is pretty authentic. There's little lag, the image is sharp, but text is difficult to read.

I streamed wirelessely to my phone, but there's also the option of using USB tethering for a more steady experience if you don't have a 5GHz wifi router.

All in all, its worth a try - for free, to see if this VR thing is for you, prior to making the plunge. There are reports of others having decent to excellent experiences with VR titles, but its a good novelty option if you don't want to spend half a thousand dollars on a full fledged VR headset and appropriate controllers.

Will I be rushing out to buy a VR exclusive game to experience this in more depth? No, I won't. Will I use it to experience some VR exclusive content should there be a game that I really, really want to experience in VR? Yes.