The 'right to dream' is the right description of Echo Bazaar. As, I suppose, is wabi-sabi. And trickery. All of those are good things.

The idea that you make something appear much bigger than it actually is is one of those things that's easy to say and very hard to do.

What are the tricks?

There's also a lot here about the role of script/screen/writing in the art of games design. You don't tell people what to think but give them enough clues etc. Again, if it was easy, everybody would be doing it.

Performative Play Practice, a series, ludologists vs narratologists - phew, it's all going on here.