Kamilia was definitely one of my most anticipated games of 2026 and after playing the game all the way through, it left me with a great feeling. There were though some thing I wanted to ask the developer Raphael Barel about it, as it got me very curious. Thankfully, he was more than happy to answer our questions, so you can see his responses right here in this interview.
Hello Raphael, we are very happy to have you today. Firstly could you maybe tell us a bit about yourself? How did the journey of RQ Play actually started?
Thanks for having me!
I’m Raphael Barel, I’m 40, and for most of my adult life I’ve been a UX designer and illustrator, and still am, while gradually shifting my career more and more toward game development. I hope that in a few years, I’ll be making video games full-time.
RQ play surprisingly started as a YouTube channel dedicated to Let’s Plays.
RQ stands for “Raphael’s Quest,” the original name of the channel.
Throughout my entire life, I’ve always enjoyed creative fields, mostly drawing, but also writing, and I always wanted my career to revolve around those things.
Since creating the gaming channel and becoming a real gamer, it became clear to me what my next creative field would be: something that combines both of my passions — gaming & creating.
So, even though I’m not that young, I’m shifting my career into game development, and I’ve turned RQ play into a dev studio.
As I understood, your first game Kamilia is based on a novella that you wrote back in 2013? In Slovakia we didn´t even hear about it, so I was wondering whether it is still available somewhere, so I could actually read it?
So, great news on this front —
I can now share, as announced on the Steam Community page, that a Definitive Edition of Kamilia is in the works — a major FREE update for everyone who owns the game that will introduce numerous improvements and additions.
One of the biggest additions to the Definitive Edition will be the original novel, included for free with the update for everyone to read.
And it makes sense that you couldn’t find it, by the way. It was never released in English, only in my native tongue (hebrew), and it never had a major publication or a large audience.
The English translation of the novel is now complete, and the original novel will be included in the Definitive Edition, coming in late 2026 or early 2027.
When did the idea of turning the book into a game actually start?
I always knew that I had managed to write an interesting story with Kamilia, but the original novel wasn’t polished enough back then and didn’t reach many people.
Still, I always knew that at some point I wanted to share the story with more people; I just didn’t know how or when.
When I became a gamer and created the Let’s Play channel about six years ago, things clicked. I
knew Kamilia was ready for its next phase — as a video game.
Then, a long process of polishing and improving the novel began, as well as rewriting some sections to make the story a better interactive experience rather than just a reading experience.
What did you want to explore while making the game? Was it just Wilfs character (since he has dialogue options here), or was there even something more? Or maybe I could just ask simply, whether there were some parts added to the game?
Wilf is an important part of the story, but I see him as only one part of it.
While at its core, Kamilia is a detective mystery, the real concept of the game, in many ways — and this is about to sound as cliché as it gets, but it’s honest — is that the game is my love letter to “Love.”
Not only romantic love — although it’s a huge part of the story — but the most beautiful elements of the human soul: its love for a partner, for nature, for creation and art, for connections, friendship, and family, and how that love affects different people in different situations.
What happens to a human soul when the most powerful thing it admires is stolen from it? I chose to explore that, maybe because I’m a romantic, or maybe because I see this as the driving force for so many people around me.
Is the game all your work or did you have a team of other people for some parts?
Although a big part of the development process was a solo indie project, I’m happy to say that I was lucky enough to find some very talented freelancers along the way who contributed A LOT to the project.
From the amazing voice acting by Katie Harvey, to beautiful art pieces by Mochii, singersongwriter Audry K. Weatherstone writing and performing the song “Lilies,” and many more — Kamilia would not be what it is without them.
I really wanna compliment the artwork in the game, especially the paintings look gorgeous. Were they all drawn and put into the game, or how was the effect done?
Thank you, first of all!
I’ll divide my answer into two parts — the first part might upset you and the readers a bit, but hopefully the second part will make up for it 🙂
First, the art created by Wilf — the paintings — is a combination of pencil drawings edited in Photoshop (like “Streets of Roga,” originally drawn by me), along with other paintings that were partly AI-generated and heavily edited in Photoshop.
I know that the inclusion of AI artwork is often not something gamers love or appreciate, and I definitely understand and respect that.
Thankfully, that leads me to the second part of my answer…
Secondly, the upcoming Definitive Edition will completely replace all AI art in the game with original, handmade artwork. This process is already underway, and it will mostly feature art created by me and by the super-talented Mochii — a freelance artist taking part in this project.
So, soon, Kamilia will be AI-free 🙂
When I first saw Sophia, I thought the idea was to show some similarities with Kamilia to get that kind of feeling. Was that right or simply a coincidence?
I love this question — because it shows me that players are experiencing the game as I hoped 🙂 To fully answer it, we should establish something important first —
Kamilia & Sophia are VERY similar, and yet VERY different at the same time.
On one hand, both are very kind and sweet, open-hearted and understanding, beautiful and elegant.
On the other hand — Kamilia is shy and introverted. She is strong, as we saw during her (spoiler alert) fight to escape, but she also struggles with self-confidence following her harsh childhood and neglectful family.Sophia, meanwhile, is very confident and extroverted, and grew up in a very loving and caring home (as players can learn through optional dialogue).
Sophia stood up to her uncle when she felt it was necessary.
Kamilia has only love in her heart, no matter what she is going through, while Sophia can be harshly critical when things seem off.
Sophia approached Wilf throughout their interactions, and she initiated that connection — something Kamilia wouldn’t do. It was Wilf who approached Kamilia when they first met, and she needed some time to come out of her shell.
Even during their most loving days, Kamilia feared the possibility of Wilf “growing tired of her,” as she says in the game, even though he loved her deeply.
So, the idea behind introducing Sophia is to initially show similarities to Kamilia, planting seeds of familiarity and attraction in the player’s mind, but then, step by step, showing the player that she isn’t exactly Kamilia as they may have thought. She is her own person — someone else.
When players see that situation, will they choose to open the door to love once more after everything, or is it something they can’t do because she isn’t Kamilia? That’s up to the player to choose 🙂
What would you call your favorite part of the story? As the author I am sure you have one. 🙂
(Spoiler alert for readers who haven’t played)
Definitely Wilf ’s realization of what ACTUALLY drove him all this time, when he confronts the villain.
He wanted the truth? Justice? Of course. But more than that — Deep inside, he was looking for something to occupy his mind, to keep him actively doing something related to Kamilia — anything, just so he wouldn’t have to spend his time doing what he really needed to do, and had failed to do for four years: come to terms with reality.
It’s the most difficult thing, but eventually he has to do it. Only at the end does he understand that.
Also, I really love and am proud of the concert scene 🙂
Let´s talk a little bit about the main villain in the game. How do you view the actions of that character? Because while there is a lot I can understand and feel sorry for, there are other actions that are just hard to look pass.
Exactly — you should not look past it.
The villain’s backstory was never meant to justify their actions or make them seem reasonable. Although they went through the worst, the villain still committed awful crimes and did horrible things, choosing revenge and hurting people who had nothing to do with the situation.
The backstory does show that this is a human being — and still, a weak person who, in the face of terrible tragedy, gave in to revenge and horrible violence.
The main purpose of the villain is to act as a sort of mirror to the protagonist. Since the extreme pain that the protagonist went through can be dealt with in multiple ways, before making a choice, the villain is there to show the protagonist one specific path — what it looks like to deal with a situation like that through revenge and violence. The villain’s story was designed as a way for the protagonist to reflect on his own choices and path.
Now, that doesn’t suggest that players must select one choice over another. It’s still a video game, and experimenting with choices is often part of what makes games what they are. But the lesson, or the understanding that comes from the villain’s actions, is what gives much of the depth to the protagonist’s arc.
Do you believe that the world can be a better place if people would break the revenge pattern and just leave the circle?
Wow, that’s an interesting question. As a storyteller, I can explore ideas like that in games or novels, but when it comes to real life, it’s always more complex and the lines can get blurred.
But having said that, my humble opinion is yes — revenge is never a positive thing. I tried to subtly show that in the game, but if players want to have a different interpretation, they are of course welcome to experience it in whatever way they prefer.
Was Kamilia (character) based on a person you know or is she a complete work of fiction?
I mentioned earlier that this game, in many ways, is a love letter to “Love,” and that’s what Kamilia is — she is the “Love” that drives the protagonist.
She is not inspired by a real person, but she is inspired by many things I find beautiful in this world.
It’s almost as if she is unrealistic on purpose. She never hates, she is never bitter. Even after parting from her family, she never holds a grudge or feels anger toward them, and deep inside, she wishes them all the best.
She is pure and giving. The way she sees the world is almost impossible, in a dreamy way. Almost out of this world.
So no, she wasn’t inspired by a person, but by many beautiful things.
Do you think some players might get a bit disappointed that there is less gameplay and more dialogue in the game? For me a person who loves stories it was great, but what about the other ones?
Actually, yes. That’s something that went through my mind many, many times during development.
Kamilia is a passion project based on a novel, and I had to make some major changes to the flow and the way the story is told in order for it to become interactive.
I realized that if I changed it too much, the story would differ from the novel more than I wanted, and if I didn’t change it enough, it would remain a novel rather than becoming a game as it should.
So, finding the right balance was challenging, and I had to choose. I chose to lean more toward the novel and keep the game as faithful to it as possible, even if that meant giving gameplay a little less space.
Maybe labeling Kamilia primarily as a visual novel would have created better expectations, but with this being my debut game, there are a lot of things I’m learning.
And I can already say that the studio’s second game will have more gameplay 🙂
What kind of feedback did you get for the game from the critics and players?
Kamilia is still finding its audience, so reviews are limited, but all the reviews to date, although limited in number, are positive, which is heartwarming to see.
Your review of the game was a pure joy to read. I also received another review of the game from KeenGamer, for example, which made me feel the same way.
So, when it comes to reviews, I’m grateful 🙂
Can we expect more games from you in the future?
Absolutely!
The script for the second game is being written as we speak 🙂
Development hasn’t started yet, so I can’t share much, but yes — things are happening!
Is there anything else you would like to tell to everyone who is reading our interview right now?
If you got to this part —
THANK YOU very much for reading.
Also, RQ Play has only just started its creative journey.
More projects are planned, so stay tuned 🙂
Thank you very much for your time and we wish you all the best in the future.
Thank you so much for this! I appreciate it.
