Croquet is a lawn game where players use wooden mallets to knock colored balls through a series of wire hoops (called wickets) stuck in the grass. The goal is to hit your ball through all the wickets in the correct order and then strike a wooden peg at the end of the course.

What makes croquet interesting is its combination of careful aiming and strategic thinking. When your ball hits another player's ball, you get a bonus shot, and you can even send their ball off course by placing your ball against theirs and whacking it with your mallet. This means you're working to complete the course while simultaneously helping yourself and hindering your opponents.

The game became popular in England and America during the Victorian era (the 1800s), when it was one of the first outdoor sports that men and women could play together. Today, people play croquet at backyard parties and family gatherings, usually on a summer afternoon. Some players take it very seriously and compete in tournaments with precise rules, while others play casually with simplified rules just for fun.