Tearfund is to launch a smartphone app based on the principle of ‘gamification’, the use of gameplay mechanics for non-game applications.

The charity has appointed ethical communications agency Provokateur to develop the app, which will aim to engage young people by rewarding them for practical, real-life actions that support the work of the international aid and development charity.

With the app due to launch in the autumn, it has not yet been decided how it will work, but it will involve the awarding of badges or rewards for completing certain tasks.

Actions could include signing a petition, giving up bottled water for a month or making a loan to an organisations supporting business in the developing world.

Gamification has already been utilised by the likes of location-based social networking app Foursquare and YouthNet are planning to launch a +U volunteering app later this year.

Provokateur director, Joshua Blackburn said: “The idea is to encourage people to change their lives through meaningful ethical and faith-based actions.”

He added: “Instead of just saying to people ‘do this, do that’, you turn it into a bit more of a challenge.”

Phillipa Peck, marketing and fundraising director at Tearfund, said that the aim of the app is “to equip young people to develop sustainable rhythms of faith-inspired action that help release people from poverty.”