In elementary school, I loved playing the "Oregon Trail" computer game, which put you in the shoes of 19th century Americans setting off by covered wagon to settle the wild West. This was meant to be an educational game, providing timeless lessons about class issues (the banker from Boston always set off with the most provisions, although the carpenter and farmer had skills that were more valuable to survive the nasty journey) as well as the importance of good nutrition (this was how most kids of my generation learned to spell "dysentery.")

Video games have come a long way since the eight-bit, Apple IIC days of my youth. But the latest offering from Serious Games Interactive, a Danish maker of educational computer games, is ambitious on several levels.

"Global Conflicts: Child Soldiers" takes you to northern Uganda, with the task of bringing an end to the two-decade insurgency by the Lord’s Resistance Army. Our hero isn't a James Bond-like spy, CIA hitman or South African soldier of fortune -- he's a human rights investigator.

SGI explains:

As a player, you will work for the International Criminal Court and will be sent on an assignment in Uganda, where you will meet the feared leader of the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army, Joseph Kony. The game focuses on topics such as child soldiers, human rights and war-crimes.

Previous games in the series have included "Global Conflicts: Palestine" and "Global Conflicts: Latin America." When they say "Serious Games," they're not kidding.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun, a blog for PC gamers, has a bit more detail: You're looking for Kony, but along the way you meet people liekMonica Atto, an IDP prepared to forego personal justice in the interests of the peace process (an idea popular among Acholis, as I and others have written). You also meet Dalson Oyo, who had his hands, ears, nose and lips chopped off by LRA rebels, and wants Kony hunted down and killed.

I was afraid the game would be exploitative or trade on stereotypes. But "Grand Theft Auto: Eastern Congo" this is not. Gamer Tim Stone offers a strong endorsement:

In pure game terms Global Conflicts: Child Soldiers has various failings. As an educational device however, it’s pretty extraordinary. Of the hundreds of NPCs I will doubtless meet over the next twelve months, I can’t imagine any will fix my attention, or burn themselves into my memory more effectively than Monica or Dalson.

Interestingly, northern Uganda is now also the subject of a comic book and an upcoming film due to star Uma Thurman. This long-running human tragedy, often overshadowed by the horrors in Sudan and Congo, is suddenly getting some serious attention.

Here's the official "Global Conflicts" trailer: