Some academic has written a game studies article critically analyzing the similarities between the architecture of (some kinds of) videogame levels, haunted houses and abattoirs, right?
All three are basically made to provide an illusion that the subject is making their own choices, but in reality they're being funneled along a predecided path made by the architect.
@venite IKEA is a classical labyrinth, which appears to be a maze but is really a linear path when you examine the structure, like the unicursal paths of the Cretan labyrinth.
Which might be relevant to this as well, as it provides an illusion of choice but funnels you toward the same end every time.
(I can easily find a few blog posts and things that are practical advice for videogame level designers on lessons to learn from haunted house design, but these tend to not to explore the idea very deeply.)
@ifixcoinops I know enough to see the potential there, but I don't know enough about architectural theory, industrial design, Temple Grandin, theme park design, and other related topics to really do it properly. I barely have an enthusiastic amateur's understanding of game studies.
What I really want is for someone else to have already written that article so I can just read it.