THECIRCLE NOTES.

8 min · Updated June 1, 2026

osu!catch (CtB) Guide: How to Catch Fruit

Move the catcher, dash, and chain hyperdashes to catch every falling fruit and droplet — the full beginner guide to osu!catch, formerly Catch the Beat.

Skinning

Skinning 101 — Finding, Installing and Tuning Skins

A good skin is not cosmetic fluff — it changes how clearly you read the playfield. Here is how to find, install and tune one.

5 min · Updated June 1, 2026

Maps

Best pp Farm Maps in osu! (2026): Easiest Maps to Boost Your pp

What pp farming actually is, why a handful of maps over-reward performance points, the etiquette around it, and a curated list of current farm maps across every rank bracket.

11 min · Updated June 1, 2026

Mods

The Mods Explained — HD, HR, DT, FL, EZ and pp

Some mods make maps harder and pay you more pp. Some make them easier and cost you. Here is exactly what each common mod does.

6 min · Updated June 1, 2026

Maps

Best osu! Beatmaps to Play & Practice (Aim, Streams, Tech)

A skill-by-skill tour of the maps worth playing for their own sake — aim and jumps, streams, speed and alternating, tech and reading, and the all-time classics every player should run at least once.

12 min · Updated June 1, 2026

5 min · Updated June 1, 2026

Tablet vs Mouse — Which to Use and Why Pros Pick Tablet

Almost every top osu! player is on a drawing tablet. Here is what the absolute positioning actually buys you, and whether the switch is worth it.

Settings

Best osu! Settings: Raw Input, FPS, Offset & More

A no-fluff tour of the osu! options that actually change how you play: raw input, OS mouse accel, tablet area, frame limiters, audio offset calibration, hit-error bar and low-end PC fixes.

9 min · Updated June 1, 2026

Beginner

Best Beginner-Friendly Maps & How to Practise Them

The right early maps teach rhythm and aim without punishing you. Here is what to look for and how to actually practise instead of just retrying.

4 min · Updated June 1, 2026

Settings

osu!lazer vs osu!stable: Should You Switch in 2026?

In 2026 osu!(lazer) submits ranked scores and awards pp. Here is exactly how scoring, mods, skins, rulesets and multiplayer differ from stable — and a clear verdict on which client is right for you.

9 min · Updated June 1, 2026

How to Improve Your Aim in osu!

Jump aim, flow aim, tablet area tuning, and the practice routines that actually move your cursor where you want it.

8 min · Updated June 1, 2026

osu!mania Guide: How to Play the VSRG Mode

Columns, notes, and hold notes scrolling toward a judgement line — everything you need to start playing osu!mania, the 4K/7K vertical-scrolling rhythm game.

Ranking

How pp Actually Works — Performance Points, Demystified

pp is not your score and it is not your accuracy. Here is what really drives it, why one map can be worth ten of another, and how your total is built.

7 min · Updated June 1, 2026

How to Improve Accuracy & Reading in osu!

Overall Difficulty and hit windows, unstable rate, the hit-error bar, approach rate and Hidden reading, and how to drill on-beat timing.

11 min · Updated June 1, 2026

Gear

Best osu! Keyboard & Which Keys to Use (Z/X, K1/K2)

The default Z/X keys, why players rebind, full keyboards versus dedicated keypads, switch choices for tapping and streaming, and what hall-effect rapid trigger really does for osu!.

Gear

Best osu! Tablets (2026) + How to Set Your Tablet Area

Why nearly every top osu! player uses a graphics tablet, how the tablet area concept works, and the tablets worth buying across every budget.

11 min · Updated June 1, 2026

6 min · Updated June 1, 2026

How to Improve Faster — Aim, Reading, Consistency and Streams

Raw playtime alone plateaus. Here is how to split practice across the four skills that actually carry your rank, and how to train each.

Ranking

osu! Ranks & pp Explained: Global Rank, Level & What's a Good pp

osu! has three things people loosely call your "rank," and they measure completely different things. This guide separates performance points (pp) and the weighted total that drives your global and country rank, the level number that comes from total score, and the per-play letter grades — then gives hedged, approximate pp-to-rank reference points and a practical plan for actually climbing.

8 min · Updated June 1, 2026

osu!taiko Guide: Don, Kat & How to Play

Red Don, blue Kat, big finisher notes, drumrolls, and dendens — the complete beginner breakdown of osu!taiko, the drum-based rhythm ruleset.

Beginner

osu! Terms & Acronyms Explained (UR, FC, SS, Choke & More)

A plain-English glossary of the osu! shorthand you will see in chat, on stream, and on leaderboards: scoring and play terms (UR, FC, SS, choke, miss), every common mod (NM, HD, HR, DT, FL, EZ, NF), the four difficulty settings (AR, OD, CS, HP), pattern and tapping vocabulary (jumps, streams, tech, alt, singletap), and the words for beatmap status and the rank chase (ranked, loved, graveyard, snipe, farm).

9 min · Updated June 1, 2026

Maps

How Star Rating and Difficulty Settings Work

Stars are not the whole story. AR, OD, CS and HP shape how a map actually feels — here is what every difficulty number means.

5 min · Updated June 1, 2026

How to Stream Faster in osu! (Streaming & Speed)

Singletapping vs. alternating, finger independence, BPM progression, deathstreams, and the stamina to hold a stream to the end of the map.