One well-understood simulation genre is game-based models.

With the goal of "making learning fun," students engage familiar and entertaining games such as Wheel of Fortune, solitaire, or memory, with important pieces of linear or task-based content replacing trivia or icons. More diagnostic than instructional, game-based models nonetheless might be the technique of choice by traditional educators and training groups looking to quickly goose their reputation, student satisfaction, and even effectiveness. Game-based models also introduce, in the purest possible way, game elements that all educational simulation designers will need to understand in the near future.

Some authoring environments include:

EGames Generator

Games2Train

Do people know of other toolkits for game-based models?