Jailyn Zabala

Jailyn is a games researcher working at the intersection of game studies, human-computer interaction and queer studies. Jailyn invested in games for social change, and how people can use games to learn, grow and practice better worlds. Jailyn received their Bachelor’s degree in Psychology with an Additional Major in Human-Computer Interaction from Carnegie Mellon University in 2022. There they discovered a deep passion for game research and human computer interaction, working on several projects researching race and games.

Currently Jailyn is a PhD candidate at Northeastern University in the Interdisciplinary Media and Design program. Jailyn has published and presented peer-reviewed work including: an awarding winning article about queer TTRPG design (FDG 2024), an article interviewing queer TTRPG players about identity exploration (DIGRA 2025) and a paper exploring culturally relevant pedagogy, ecological justice and game design (CHI 2026). Throughout this work Jailyn aims to understand how games (especially analog, community-driven games) can serve marginalized communities not just as entertainment but as tools for self-determination. In doing this work, they have connected with local communities, presenting and running workshops at QGCon and Ds4si.

Their ongoing dissertation research centers around the power of TTRPGs as a tool for queer people to explore their identities. Their work is grounded in qualitative methods; including interviews, content analysis and practice-based design research. As a core part of their dissertation, they aim to design a TTRPG which translates their research findings into a playable experience centered around identity exploration. This work is grounded in the voices of queer community members and queer TTRPG developers, and Jailyn hopes to continue to work with academics, game designers and queer TTRPG players to highlight how playing and making games can help us flourish and resist.