The main idea of semi-quantitative simulation is to fully utilize qualitative and quantitative knowledge of system to predict the behaviors of system. The approaches of semi-quantitative simulation include Q2 algorithm, Q3 algorithm, self-explanation simulation, fuzzy qualitative simulation, numerical interval simulation and other techniques for the improvement of semi-quantitative simulation. Semi-quantitative simulation has been applied to varieties of fields, e.g. fault diagnosis, education system, economy, system identification and industry. The advantages and disadvantages of each approach were discussed and some promising aspects of the semi-quantitative simulation were proposed to be studied in the future.