The republic of São Tomé and Principe (STP), a small island developing state (SIDS) is at a crossroads. The island faces major environmental and economic challenges posing threats to its unique biodiversity and primary forests. The island's fast-growing population, combined with poor environmental governance, has led to huge pressure on natural resources. Demand for timber, charcoal and firewood for cooking and overexploitation of non-timber forest products are leading to forest loss and fragmentation and habitat degradation of endemic species. A consortium led by an environmental NGO started a participatory process using a serious game approach to explore alternative land use trajectories and reconcile economic opportunities with conservation measures. The tabletop role-playing game was co-designed, co-constructed, tested and implemented over one year (dec 2021 – jan 2023). Nine game sessions were played, gathering a total of 130 participants from various economic sectors (e.g. agriculture, tourism, forestry) and background (e.g. students, farmers, policymakers). Despite its apparent simplicity and compact layout, the game successfully allows for the exploration of diverse trajectories and pathways within a limited time of 3 hours. It fostered exchanges on alternative scenarios, policy implications, and highlighted a general lack of understanding on environmental rules and regulations and on interdependencies and feedback loop in the system.