Funnelling
Also said as Funneling, Player flow, Soft guidance
Shaping a space so that people drift towards one place without noticing: walls that lean inward, a road that narrows, a floor that slopes down. They believe they chose the route.
A square room with a door in one wall makes players walk its edges looking for the way on. Angle the walls towards the door and most of them are through it before they have had to think.
Say it
“Players stall in the courtyard. Angle both side walls in by about 30 degrees towards the gate, and light only the gate end.”
Where you’ve seen it
Left 4 Dead runs its survivors down streets and through corridors with one-way drops, so a group stays together and keeps moving forward through a level that looks like an open city.
Not to be confused with choke point
Funnelling is about guiding movement. A choke point is about what happens when a fight meets a narrow place. A funnel can end at a choke point, and often does.