When it comes to the major environmental crises of our time, we have moved into a new phase: we are no longer warned that they are coming; they are here and are having major impacts on human and nonhuman life. As the warnings and discourses become stronger and more explicit, we see actors scrambling to come to terms with this new reality and wondering how to move forward. With respect to the global biodiversity crisis, this is well reflected in the conservation community. Over the last years we have seen the rise of many new proposals, (technological) tools and actions for reforming, speeding and scaling up conservation. In this presentation, however, I argue that most of these continue to participate in - and often even strengthen - a rigged game that may lead to small wins here and there but will not change the course of the crisis. Following, I will present and illustrate an alternative vision that we call ‘convivial conservation’ and speculate whether this could be a game-changer for scientists, practitioners and policy-makers. One point will be central: more radical political and intellectual action across social and natural sciences will be key to change the conservation game.