Rafayel proudly holds the distinction of being the inaugural Love and Deepspace (LaDS) romanceable companion to celebrate his birthday each year. His special day kicks off the yearly birthday event rotation, providing an exciting preview of what to anticipate when the other companions celebrate their birthdays. Therefore, Rafayel’s birthday isn’t just another date on the calendar; it’s a significant highlight within the LaDS universe.
The birthday events for 2024 and 2025 closely mirrored one another, but exciting changes are on the horizon for 2026. In a bid to refresh the experience, some classic minigames have been retired and replaced with a new array of activities. Nevertheless, the overall atmosphere remains intact, with Rafayel once again leading the way.
Mark your calendars! Rafayel’s birthday event for 2026, titled Each Step To You, is scheduled to run from March 1st to March 8th. Players will have just over a week to complete event tasks and make wishes on both his new and returning birthday banners.
Participating in the Each Step To You Event in LaDS
To join in on Rafayel’s 2026 birthday festivities, you must first unlock him as a love interest. This requires progressing through the main story up to Chapter 2-12, a goal easily attainable during the event period, even for new players.
Once you’ve accomplished this, simply log in during the birthday week and access the Events tab to be directed to the Each Step To You event landing page.
This page features all the activities crafted for Rafayel’s birthday celebration. While it’s not necessary to complete every task, certain activities have prerequisites, and participating in any way will reward you with Campus Maps, the unique, time-limited event currency. This currency is exclusively usable in the Softshine Shop during the event.
Why Campus Maps? Each LaDS event introduces its own themed currency. For Rafayel’s Year 3 celebration, this nods to his background as the heroine’s university lecturer. It’s a cute twist that adds depth to their relationship, which began with professional proximity before blossoming into romance, so we’ll just appreciate how adorable he looks in his glasses.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1ndF8eManE
Overview of Each Step To You Activities and Minigames
This year’s birthday event for Rafayel, set for 2026, showcases a notable shift from the previous formats established over the last two years.
Among the most significant changes is the retirement of the cake-baking minigame, along with the ingredient-collection task. Additionally, the personalized birthday card creation has been removed, with a fixed cake now delivered on the birthday itself, merging these former activities into a streamlined experience.
Here’s a breakdown of the new event activities:
- Birthday Warm-Up Storyline: The only unchanged aspect of the birthday event, this unique four-part storyline unfolds one chapter per day on March 1st, March 3rd, and March 5th-6th, culminating on Rafayel’s birthday. Each year’s Birthday Stories are exclusive, so don’t miss this rare opportunity to assist Rafayel in evaluating his art students’ submissions.
- Treasured Threads: This new match-3 inspired minigame replaces the timed object collection and challenges players to match as many icons as possible within a limited number of moves to gather Woven Hearts customization tokens. Four new levels will unlock daily until March 4th, allowing you to replay each for maximizing your token collection and star ratings.
- Woven Hearts: Utilize the tokens gathered from playing Treasured Threads to unlock customization options in the Wardrobe. This year, all tokens go into a single pool, simplifying the process compared to past events.
Image credit: VG247 / Infold Games - Wardrobe: Use the cosmetics gained in Woven Hearts to personalize your plushie of Rafayel—selecting outfits, hair accessories, facial accessories, and up to three freely placeable decorations. Players can save up to 20 design drafts daily, displaying their current design on the main event page, before finalizing everything on Rafayel’s birthday.
- Cake Prep: Unlike previous birthday events where cake customization was central, this year, a pre-made cake will automatically prepare until it’s time for presentation on the big day.
Once Rafayel’s birthday arrives on March 6th, expect a video call from him sharing his reflections on the birthday celebrations with you.
Softshine Shop Event Highlights
On the main event page, you can navigate to the Wishwave Plan, which outlines a mix of event-specific tasks and general in-game dailies that will reward you with the unique Year 3 birthday currency, Campus Maps. By heading to Shop > Exchange > Softshine Shop, you can trade your earned Campus Maps for various exciting items:
| Item | Cost (in Campus Maps) | Maximum available |
|---|---|---|
| Limited Deepspace Wish | 600 each | 10 |
| Midnight Operation (Rafayel’s 2026 birthday outfit) | 2, 000 | 1 |
| Ocean’s Oath (Rafayel’s 2025 birthday outfit) | 2, 000 | 1 |
| Bloom Gaze (3-star Rafayel Lunar Sapphire Memory – 2026 birthday exclusive) | 800 each | 4 |
| Swimming Hearts (3-star Rafayel Lunar Ruby Memory – 2025 birthday exclusive) | 800 each | 4 |
| Unforsaken (title card – prefix) | 400 | 1 |
| Tender Presence (title card – suffix) | 400 | 1 |
| Devoted Lesson (avatar) | 120 | 1 |
| Bubbly Fishie (photo / journal sticker) | 120 | 1 |
| Sunlit Hearts (song) | 400 | 1 |
| Versatile Fish Tape (journal design) | 200 | 1 |
| Flowery Moment (journal design) | 400 | 1 |
| Dream Prologue Border (journal design) | 280 | 1 |
| Bloom Gaze (Rafayel emote for photo studio) | 120 | 1 |
| Bloom Awaited (chat bubble) | 400 | 1 |
| Energy Capsule: Powerful | 600 (40% discount compared to main store) | 2 |
| Bottle of Wishes: SR | 60 (40% discount compared to main store) | 10 |
| Core Energy: SR | 60 (40% discount compared to main store) | 10 |
| Ascension Crystal Box: General | 24 (40% discount compared to main store) | 120 |
| Gold x10, 000 | 120 (40% discount compared to main store) | 5 |
| Gold x25 | 1 | unlimited |
Note that this year’s shop selection has expanded, featuring new designs for the journal feature introduced over the last summer. However, returning outfits and 3-star Memories are now exclusively associated with the previous year’s birthday event, meaning they’re not available for this year’s event.
If you find yourself with extra Campus Maps at the event’s conclusion, you can trade them for 25 Gold each in the Softshine Shop, a valuable exchange to consider. Alternatively, similar to other limited currencies in LaDS, any unused Campus Maps will transition to a permanent currency post-event, minimizing potential loss while reducing their purchasing power.
Additionally, be sure to check your in-game mail during the event, as you’ll receive 10 Limited Deepspace Wishes, meant for the new Duskbright Steps banner. Unfortunately, these cannot be redeemed for Rafayel’s Heartbound Wish double birthday rerun, as different currencies are required for rerun pulls. However, if you don’t use them before the banner expires, they convert to regular Empyrian Wishes usable on the permanent X-Space Echo banner, making it worthwhile to claim them regardless of your wish strategy.
In the realm of Love and Deepspace, codes for rewards can be scarce, but they’re no less exciting when released. Stay vigilant by following our codes list page to catch all the current freebies!
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