Simulation, Performance, and Representation: A New Perspective on Interior Architecture through Game Spaces 

This study explores the production of interior space within digital games through the theoretical lenses of simulation, performance, and representation. Moving beyond conventional notions of game design, the research positions virtual environments as sites of spatial construction, cultural coding, and embodied experience. Drawing from the theories of Baudrillard, Barthes, Goffman, the paper analyzes how interior settings in digital games function as hyperreal environments, symbolic systems, and stages for performative interaction. Through qualitative content analysis of Gone Home, What Remains of Edith Finch, and The Sims, the study examines spatial elements such as color, lighting, furniture placement, circulation, and atmosphere. These games were selected as case studies due to their distinct yet complementary approaches to the construction, representation, and experience of interior space within digital environments. The findings suggest that game spaces do not merely reflect real-world interiors but offer new epistemological frameworks for rethinking interior architecture. As digital environments blur the boundaries between materiality and imagination, they challenge the discipline to engage with multisensory, narrative-driven, and participatory spatial experiences. The paper concludes by proposing that digital games represent a critical rupture in traditional design discourse and calls for their integration into interior design pedagogy and theory.