Seems like a fair enough analogy

That last bit implies they don't have a choice. They absolutely have a choice, it's just that they are allergic to good decisions.

The GM has the power to present a heist, but unless the GM is really railroady, the players have the power to make it a ransom, a demolition job or just ignore everything and join the circus.

One shots, like the few Mörk Borg ones I have recently played, have a higher chance of people doing what the scenario expects, but when a character is given a trait that they only eat named things, the player starts asking and collecting every NPCs name.