Research has demonstrated that playing games can positively impact educational results, both from playing games designed to achieve educational outcomes and tangentially from playing entertainment games. There has been a pervasive barrier to adoption of learning games rooted in concerns related to negative effects associated with entertainment video games. The game industry has been the subject of criticism for employing design practices linked to a number of potential negative outcomes among players including fostering gaming addiction, contributing to negative cognitive effects from too much screen time, and real-world carryover effects from exposure to violence and negative depictions of women in games. Popular media outlets have leveraged current events to sensationalize these concerns increasing the attention they receive potentially increasing barriers to the adoption of games for learning. Because educational games leverage many of the same design elements as their entertainment counterparts, it is understandable for funders, educators, and parents to be concerned that common issues may impact learners. Beyond the popular media portrayal, there are volumes of research on gameplay and its associated real-world impact on players. Makers of learning games have an obligation to understand the current literature and to both educate potential users of educational games on the positives and negatives of their adoption and to reflect the known best design practices in creation of learning games. To equip the educational games community to achieve these goals and ultimately limit negative impacts on the potential of learning games, this paper surveys current research on positive and negative effects of gameplay and provides design recommendations for educational games.