The configuration space of some $n$ points in a space $X$ is a well-studied object in topology, geometry, and combinatorics. We present a generalization, the simplicial configuration space $M(S,X)$, which takes as its data a simplicial complex $S$ on $n$ points. In this talk, we will describe how $M(S,X)$ gives rise to polynomial and homological invariants of the simplicial complex $S$, how those invariants are related to $H^*(X)$, and what it has to do with the topology of spaces of maps into $X$. This is joint work with Vin de Silva and Radmila Sazdanovic.