Man’s best friend… or a Wizard’s best friend, anyway, will be joining the Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery (developer Jam City) mobile game. The free-to-play game’s newest update will introduce pets to the game, letting players take care of a little buddy. The mobile game is free-to-play, meaning now is the perfect time to try it out if you haven’t already.

The pets are not just to waste time with; they will have an important purpose. The game has an energy resource that allows you to perform actions and complete missions. One lesson in the magical school takes 90 seconds of tapping on the screen, has a waiting time of one hour, and finishes with another 90 seconds of tapping. You can skip the waiting time if you pay with in-game currency, but pets can also provide energy boosts.

The pets introduced to the game will come in four different species: Toad, Cat, Rat, and Owl. Sure, they are not super exotic animals like Imps or Fire Crabs, but at the end of the day, you will have someone keeping you company and feeding you energy. For those of you that are animal lovers and want to have as many as you can, don't worry; it is possible to have one of each species. They will all be sleeping with you in your dorm but only one can accompany you around the school.

On the other hand, there is some bad news. In order to get a pet or various pets (in this free-to-play game) players will need to use Gems, the mobile game’s currency. You know where this is going, right? Microtransactions!  Gems can be obtained by playing, but that is a very slow process. Each pet costs between 160 to 320 Gems. $4.99 gives you a pack of 130 Gems.

Of course, this is not the first time the game has used microtransactions. As mentioned above, the energy mechanic can be “boosted” by spending cash. It all depends on the player - if you are patient, then playing the game will be just fine.

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery is now available in Android and iOS. Experience the life of a wizard student in this free-to-play game that is introducing hard-to-obtain pets. You can explore the campus and meet new friends. Let us know what you think of Hogwarts Mystery's microtransactions.