The game is played on a court that is essentially identical to that used for golf croquet, though you may encounter alternative names for hoops 7 to 12, as shown on the diagram. As in golf croquet, blue and black oppose red and yellow. The object of the game is to cause your two balls to pass through all 12 hoops in order and strike the peg (‘peg out’) before your opponent does.
Progress is achieved by making ‘breaks’. When it is your turn to play, you have only one stroke, but may earn bonus strokes.
- If your ball runs the hoop it is aiming for you earn one bonus stroke.
- If your ball hits one of the other three balls on court (makes a ‘roquet’) you earn two extra strokes.
- The first of these is a ‘croquet’ stroke, where you pick up your ball and place it in contact with the roqueted ball. Then, by hitting your ball you cause both balls to move to positions advantageous to you.
- The second bonus stroke is a ‘continuation’ stroke. With this stroke you may roquet another ball or run your next hoop. Either way you will earn a bonus stroke or strokes, enabling you to continue your break. Note, though, that in between hoops you can roquet the other balls on the court once each. When you run your next hoop, all the balls become ‘live’ again.
Using a combination of roquets, croquets, continuation strokes and hoop-running strokes, a skilful player can build a sizeable break, even extending to all 12 hoops.
