Step onto the lawn. The season awaits.
The Paterson Players Club Croquet Championship is a fully playable Victorian croquet game set in the world of the Hinchliffe Brewing & Malting Co. of Paterson, New Jersey. Play as William F. Hinchliffe — brewery master, Club president, and reluctant owner of the most ambitious mallet in Passaic County. Or pick another player entirely. Across a full 1892 season on the lawns of the Paterson Players Club, and then into the autumn of 1924 for the legendary Challenge Series at Upper Ridgewood — where Duke the German shepherd has the run of the grounds.
THREE VARIANTS OF AUTHENTIC CROQUET
⚜ Association Croquet — The full game. Run six hoops in order, strike the central peg, run them in reverse, peg out to win. Roquets, continuation shots, directional scoring, boundary yard-line rules. Both players can roquet — this is proper Association play.
🔷 9-Wicket Croquet — The American double-diamond course. Nine wickets to the turning stake and back to the start stake.
⛳ Golf Croquet — All players contest the same hoop simultaneously. First through scores. First to four points wins. Fast, social, ruthless.
YOUR OPPONENTS
Play as any Club member — select your character, then face the rest. Eight players in total, each with distinct playing styles, statistics, and period commentary:
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William F. Hinchliffe — The Brewery Master. Hard. Three-time Club champion. Methodical, powerful, and disinclined to lose on his own lawn.
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Jim Cavanagh — The Silk Baron. Expert. Precise, strategic, exquisitely patient.
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Tom Cavanagh — Jim's younger brother. Hard. Covers every match for the Paterson Evening Chronicle.
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Leo Rogers — The Lawyer. Hard. Argues every shot like a courtroom verdict.
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Leo Hinchliffe — The Entrepreneur. Hard. Sharp instincts, never backs down.
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Eddie Pinardy — The Undertaker. Medium. Hits with tremendous force and no idea where the ball is going.
Two further opponents unlock as you win matches — including Mrs. Eleanor Forsythe, four-time champion of the N.J. Ladies Croquet Association, and John D. Hinchliffe, founder of the Eagle Brewery.
THE 1892 SEASON
Play a full season from May through September — one Saturday fixture per month, weather permitting. Five rounds of individual play, followed by semi-finals and a Championship Match in October. Weather conditions affect each fixture: Fine, Overcast, Breezy, Showery, Windy, or Heavy Rain. Progress saves automatically.
THE 1924 CHALLENGE SERIES
Autumn 1924. Five challenge matches at the Upper Ridgewood Croquet Club. Choose one of five characters drawn from the real 1924 correspondence. Duke — The Hinchliffe family German shepherd — has the run of the grounds at all times. A ball is a ball to Duke.
GENTLEMEN'S WAGERS
Before each match, propose a wager against your opponent — from a gentleman's salute to a gold sovereign. Wager balances carry through the season.
MALLETS
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Standard Ash — Regulation. Balanced. Reliable.
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Long John — 42″ hickory. More distance, less control.
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Surgeon's Mallet — Short, weighted, surgical precision.
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🔨 The Hinchliffe Hammer — Solid lignum vitae, brass-banded, 40″ American hickory. Unlocks after five wins.
MEMBERS' CORRESPONDENCE
The game includes a full archive of real letters exchanged between Leo J. Hinchliffe, James F. Cavanagh, and Leo M. Rogers in September and October 1924 — a genuine postal dispute that escalated through increasingly elaborate stationery, legal threats, an offer to play blindfolded, and a German Shepherd.
TECHNICAL
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Single HTML file — 567KB. No installation, no internet connection, no subscription.
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Works on: iPhone, Android, iPad, desktop — any device with a browser.
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Save your progress — saves automatically to your device.
- One purchase, yours forever.
