Rilla Khaled is an associate professor at the Institute of Digital Games at the University of Malta. Her research focuses on the design of learning and persuasive games, the interactions between games and culture, and the practices involved in new forms of game design. She was the lead designer for the award-winning learning game Village Voices, developed as part of the EU FP7 SIREN project on games and conflict resolution. She is also the lead designer for the learning game Words Matter, targeted towards dyslexic players and supported by the EU FP7-funded ILearnRW project.

Core to Rilla’s interests are examinations of the impact of game design intervention projects on project stakeholders, which she has examined both in large-scale research projects as well as community outreach projects. In weaving impact directly into the game design process, her current focus is on reflective game design, a new alternative design agenda that embraces the tackling of ambiguous subject matter, empowers the perspectives of players, and weaves together learning games and experimental games.