It personally reminds me of 2d side-view games (like later castlevanias) where you can't walk around objects like tables or boxes (you have to jump over them to progress). Perhaps level designers for these sorts of games will become architectural consultants when super-thin houses start springing up in other places?
Yes, there's another similar book called The Planiverse by A.K. Dewdney that demonstrates a vertical plane-world with a host of 2d innovations necessary for working mechanics and biology. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Planiverse