Gems

Gems are a form of in-game currency used for purchases. They are used in the shops, for backgrounds, and for avatar customizations. The difference between gems and gold is that the main method of acquiring gems is by purchasing them with real money (or buying a subscription with real money, which allows you to purchase a specified amount of gems with gold).

Gems are the primary method by which Habitica developers receive financial support. Habitica is not a pay-to-win game. No items bought with gems will give the player any advantage in their stats or gameplay.

Gem purchases are not necessary to enjoy the game because:

All Quest Scrolls bought with gems are shareable within your party, so only one person needs to have the gems to purchase them. The same is true for public challenges: Only the person who runs the challenge needs the gems to do so.
While some cosmetic items (e.g. backgrounds and additional outfits) are only available using gems, none of them affect gameplay.
Other gem purchasable items (such as eggs, food, or the Orb of Rebirth) are obtainable for free with time, effort, and/or luck, or their effects can be produced for free in slightly different ways. (For example: While there is no way to obtain just a Fortify Potion or to only change one's class without using gems, using the Orb of Rebirth (which becomes free at level 100) produces the same effects of the Fortify Potion, allows you to choose a new class upon reaching level 10, and has many other benefits as well.)

There are five ways to obtain gems:

Buy gems with real money
Subscribe with real money and then buy gems with gold
Receive gifted gems or a gifted subscription (and then buy gems with gold)
Win a challenge that has a gem reward (free but possibly time consuming)
Contribute to Habitica (also free but very time consuming)

Buying Gems for Yourself[]

You can buy Gems for yourself on the website, Android app, and iOS app without having a subscription.

On the website:

Click on the Gem icon in the Toolbar. A pop-up with the option to buy various sets of Gems will appear.
First, select which Gem bundle you would like to buy (4, 21, 42, or 84 Gems).
Then select your preferred payment method: credit card, PayPal, or Amazon Pay. If you pay with a credit card, you might be charged a fee by your bank.
Follow the on-screen instructions for the payment option you have selected.
Refer to the notes below for the mobile app instructions.

On the Android or iOS mobile app:

Tap on the Gem icon in the header (Android app only) or go to Menu > Purchase Gems.
Select which Gem bundle you would like to buy (4, 21, 42, or 84 Gems).
Follow the on-screen instructions for making the payment.
- On the iOS app, payment will be done through iTunes.
- On the Android app, payment will be done through Google Play. If you have money in your Google Play balance, you may be able to use that instead of another payment method, depending on Google's policy for your country.

Important: On the website and mobile apps, click the Buy or Confirm button once only. Clicking the button multiple times may result in multiple purchases being made.
Buying Gems in other currencies than USD: The prices for Gem bundles on the website might slightly differ day by day, depending on the specific exchange rate your chosen payment method offers when you make the purchase. However, the iOS app store strictly enforces a specific set of prices (which is also used in the Android app to provide consistency for app users). So buying a Gem bundle on the website might cost slightly less (or slightly more) than buying the same Gem bundle through the app.

If the Gems don't appear in your account immediately, please see the Troubleshooting Gem Purchases section below.

Subscribing[]

Subscriptions are an excellent way to support Habitica while gaining access to additional Habitica features. Players who have a monthly subscription, a group plan, or a corporate plan may buy gems using in-game gold at a rate of 20 gold per gem, which is a better rate than buying gems with real money. The option to buy gems with gold appears in the Special Item section of the Market after subscribing.

The amount of Gems available for purchase depends on the type of subscription and the number of consecutive months you have had the subscription. The following table shows the monthly limit of gold-purchasable gems available to each subscriber after the first purchase.

Subscription Length	Max Gems per Month	Gem Cap Bonus
Monthly	25 Gems	+0 Gems
Every 3 Months	30 Gems	+5 Gems
Every 6 Months	35 Gems	+10 Gems
Yearly	45 Gems	+20 Gems

The least amount of Gems that can be available to a subscriber is 25 (which you get in the first month of a monthly subscription). For each three months of consecutive subscription, 5 Gems will be added to your Gem Cap Bonus, which can be viewed under User > Subscription. The Gem Cap Bonus can reach a maximum of 25. For subscriptions that last longer than a month, the Gem Cap Bonus will be raised for all of the months subscribed when you purchase the subscription (see table above). The maximum amount of Gems available for purchase each month is 50 (since you start out at 25 Gems and the maximum Gem Cap Bonus is 25).

On the website, a purple circle in the top right corner of the gems icon will indicate how many gems are still available for purchase this month. On the iOS app, click on the gem icon to open a menu with this information.

If you don't buy enough gems to meet your gem cap for that month, the gems not purchased do not roll over to the next month. If you don't have enough gold at the end of the month, you might consider using Fix Character Values to give yourself a loan of enough gold and then pay it back later with a custom reward. Please note that the site admins are not able to refund gems not purchased at the end of the month.

The amount of Gems available for purchase resets within the first three days of each month, regardless of what day of the month the player's subscription started.

Gifting[]

Gems and subscriptions can also be gifted to other players. You can choose to make a gift of one or more gems from your inventory or to buy gems to send to another player.

To access the Gift dialogue box, first access the player’s Profile. Then proceed as following, depending on what Habitica client you are using: When using the Habitica web client, click the Gift icon in the top right-hand corner. When using the iOS app, click the three dots in the top right-hand corner, then click "Gift Gems". When using the Android app, click on the "Gift Gems" icon under the player's profile. (On the apps, you can also access Gift Gems at the bottom of the Purchase Gems screen; after tapping Gift Gems you will be prompted for the @username of the recipient.)

On the website, a popup will then open that gives you the option of sending gems to that player or buying a subscription for that player. On the apps, you only have the option to gift gems after clicking on "Gift Gems". Please refer to Gifting a Subscription for instructions on how to gift subscriptions via the apps.

To purchase gems on the website, enter the number of gems you'd like to purchase, then click the "Purchase" button. The payable amount will be displayed, and you will be able to select PayPal, Amazon Payments, or a card as payment options.
To purchase gems on the apps, select one of four available Gem packets. Payment will be handled via iTunes or Google Play.

To send gems from your own balance on the website, enter the number of gems you'd like to send, make sure you have chosen "From Balance", and then click the "Send" button. To send gems from your own balance on the apps, navigate to the "From Balance" tab, enter the number of gems you'd like to send, and then click "Send Gift".

To choose a subscription (on the website), select from the options of 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, or 1 year. You can select PayPal, Amazon Payments, or a card as payment options.

You can also attach a personal message to send with the gift (only on the website).

When your gift has been sent, the recipient will receive an automated message in their inbox telling them what you have given them, i.e., the number of gems or the number of months of subscription. If you entered a personal message, it will be appended to the automated message.

Note: Asking other players to gift you gems in chat or via private messaging is considered spamming and is forbidden under the Community Guidelines.

Obtaining Gems for Free[]

Players may earn gems in Habitica in three ways. Some of these require a significant time investment:

Win challenges that award gems as a prize. Note that not all challenges give gems and that you probably won't win all challenges you join.
Receive a contributor reward for helping with the development of Habitica. Note that not all contributions will be accepted and that those that are might take a long time to be implemented, especially for art contributions.
Receive a generous gift of gems from a user. Please keep in mind that it is a violation of the Community Guidelines to ask for a gift of gems.

The first two methods of obtaining gems are designed to support Habitica and improve the overall user experience.

Gem Uses[]

Gems can be used for the following:

Eggs (can also be obtained for free from drops or quest rewards)
Hatching Potions (some can also be obtained for free from drops or quest rewards)
Food (can also be obtained for free from drops)
Saddles to upgrade a pet to a mount immediately (up to 8 free ones are available through Daily Check-In Incentives)
Orb of Rebirth (becomes free at level 100 and is unlocked for 6 gems at level 50)
Key to the Kennels (becomes free after each Triad Bingo)
Prizes in any challenges you create (public challenges outside of a Party or Group Plans must have a reward of at least 1 gem; this is to discourage spam)
Avatar Appearance changes (skin, hair, equipment)
Items from past Seasonal Shops (which are only open during the four Grand Galas)
Backgrounds
Certain quest scrolls (Ie. Magic Hatching Potion Quests)
Class changes (Also one of the many effects of the Orb of Rebirth)
Fortify Potion
A generous gift for others

As mentioned above, you never have to buy or use gems: gem rewards are either purely cosmetic, like backgrounds; able to be earned for free (in one form or another), like eggs; or shareable, like quests (only one person in a party needs to buy them and then everyone can participate).

Advanced Gem Tips[]

Challenges as "gem containers": If you want to store some gems separately (to set them aside for a special purpose), you can create challenges that serve as "gem containers". To get the gems back from a challenge, delete the challenge (without declaring a winner), and the gems will automatically be returned to your account. Or, you can simply reward yourself as the winner. (You cannot add or substract gems to or from an existing challenge, but you can clone the challenge with a different amount of gems before deleting it.) If you are using a challenge as a gem container, it would also be beneficial to clearly state that in the challenge description, to prevent confusion or potentially disappointment. Alternatively, we ask that you please create the "gem container" challenges in your own private one-person guild or one-person party where no other Habiticans see them. (This also keeps the list of public challenges free from clutter.) In some other cases, you may want a "gem container" challenge to be visible to other players (for example because it contains gems for a guild or party). In these cases, please create the "gem container" challenge in the appropriate guild or party and explain its purpose clearly in the challenge description (because otherwise, many Habiticans will probably join the challenge and try to win it).

Troubleshooting Gem Purchases[]

If you buy gems in the iOS or Android mobile app but the gems don't appear immediately, go back to the app's gem purchase page and keep it open for two minutes (this is to give the app time to connect to iTunes or Google Play). After two minutes, go to your tasks page and drag downwards on your tasks to force a sync. If that does not work, send a bug report as described below.

For problems purchasing Gems on the mobile app, go to the "About" section in the app's menu and tap on the "Report a Bug" button. That will start an email with some debugging information in it. Leave all of that information in the email and add your description of the problem. If you have a purchase receipt, attach a screenshot of it to the email.

For problems purchasing Gems on the website, forward your purchase receipt to [email protected] and in the same email, describe the problem. Include your Username.

Gem Images & Trivia[]

Art by tressley	This .svg file is used almost everywhere on the website and in the mobile apps. Fun fact: If you hover over the image in the header on the website, it shifts through a variety of colors!
Art by Piyo	This .png file is only used in the button to buy subscriber gems with gold.
(Artist name needed)	This image was previously used, but is now retired.

Information for Developers

This section contains information of interest to Habitica developers. It is not of use for normal gameplay or task management.

In Habitica's database and in the data extracted from the database using the API, the amount of gems for a user or guild is stored in the balance field. The value stored is the dollar value of the gems owned, which is $1 for 4 gems. Thus if the balance is 1, the user or guild has 4 gems. If the balance is 0.5, the user or guild has 2 gems.