AbstractThe world may be considered to consist of interacting objects. An object‐oriented view is missing, however, in traditional system dynamics models. An attempt to develop a simulation methodology based on this view and using extended cellular automata principles is documented in this article. This methodology relies on pictorial entities representing real or abstract objects and a set of intuitive behavior and interaction rules. A simple predator‐prey model shows how such a pictorial simulation approach compares with traditional system dynamics models.