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Emotional design has emerged as a critical area of research in game-based learning (GBL). Initial studies have yielded promising results indicating that learning games can be designed to purposefully induce specific emotions that support learning processes and outcomes. Yet, existing studies have not always yielded consistent results with regard to the expected effects of emotional design in learning games (Plass & Hovey, 2021). In order to make sustained and significant progress in this area, researchers have called for a systematic approach to evaluating the impact of emotional design on players’ emotions, learning processes, and learning outcomes (Loderer et al., 2019; Plass et al., 2019; Plass & Hovey, 2021). This paper draws upon research approaches from existing emotional design studies to propose an initial outline for such a systematic approach.