Simulationist role-playing game
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A simulationist role-playing game is a role-playing game where the rules try to simulate the way that things work in the real world, or at least the way that they could be thought of working.
For example, to resolve combat (a rather common event in many of role-playing games) a simulationist approach might be to see if the character hits, then if the victim can parry, then how much 'damage' the weapon does, then how much of this the armour stops, then determine what part of the victim is hit, then see how much harm the remaining damage does.
The benefit of this method is that it is simple for the players to interpret the results and understand what must have happened. The drawback is that the process can take a long time to perform and the process is not always how the real-world works anyway.
GURPS is often classified as a simulationist role-playing system.
Simulationist games are one of the three types commonly identified by the "Threefold Model" and the GNS Theory. The other two are gamist and narrativist/drama.