Gem Earning Tips
This is a User Guide, sharing tips for gaining free gems without having to buy them with real cash
#1 - Watch Ads
If you click on the Gem button at the top it will take you to the gem purchasing screen. To the side there will be a green buttons saying "Get Free Gems". Tap this and you will be taken to vew a 10-30 sec advert for some other app/game. After the ad is done, return and you will have earned 1 gem.
You can only get 2 gems a day through this, so make sure you don't forget to watch each day. Those 2 gems a day can really add up.
#2 - Derpy Hooves
There is a chance that when you click on Derpy hiding under her box that she will spawn a gem among the coins she usually pops. The chance is kinda average maybe 20-30%. Personally I find most of my gems through Derpy.
There is no limit to how many times you can click on Derpy in day, so long as you can find her. She can be easier to find in Canterlot than Ponyville due to the fact that the area is smaller and you would have less buildings there. While there is no set pattern to her hiding, after 3 ore more taps you may find she spends time wandering around talking to other ponies instead of hiding again. You can try closing and restarting the app to trigger her hiding again.
#3 - Clearing Parasprites/Changelings
After you clear the final sprite/remove the final health bar there is a small chance that parasprites and changelings will pop out a gem. The chance is quite low, probably around 10%, but if the element of the critters are one you have a lot of spares in (i.e. anything except Magic) you should be farming them for gems.
#4 - Balloon Pop - (Hearts)
Once you have bought all the ponies that require hearts, there is not much else to do with hearts other than play balloon pop with them. There is a chance that you can get either 1 (uncommon) or 2 (rare) gems from a balloon.
For those people just starting out with only a few friends, struggling to get even the first pony may not think they will ever reach this stage. But it will happen. Check out the Friends page, and put your name there for others to add, as well as checking links for other "Add Me" locations.
#5 - Feeding Shrines
Harmony shards eventually cap at 999. To avoid wasting shards, go to Ponyville and tap activated shrines. As you feed shards to the shrines you will get a whole lot of bit popping out. There is also a very small chance that a single gem will also come out, you may get one in every 200-300 shards fed in.
