Device Based Sims provide the player with realistic operating control over various kinds of devices and vehicles. These could be anything from a machine in a factory, to military battlefield hardware to vehicles like cars or a fork lift truck. Well known examples of this type include flight simulators and driver simulators.

Typically, they provide extremely high levels of fidelity in 3D graphics, sound, and movement. The sim can provide instant feedback to the user, for example through terrain physics impacting on the vehicle and also through inbuilt AI that examines performance levels. PC-based simulators of this fidelity show excellent levels of training effectiveness and are used to train people to high levels of proficiency within their particular field.

User controls and navigation approximate the real world equivalent, such as the gears and steering of a car or the complex cockpit dashboard of an airplane.