

The game offers a buyable service called osu!supporter, which grants many quality-of-life features to the user. The game can be played using various peripherals, however the most common setup is a graphics tablet or computer mouse to control cursor movement, paired with a keyboard.


Each beatmap is accompanied by a background. The beatmap is then played with accompanying music, simulating a sense of rhythm as the player interacts with the objects to the beat of the music. Mania beatmaps consist of keys (depicted as a small bar) and holds. Catch beatmaps have fruits and spinners, which are arranged in a horizontal manner. Taiko beatmaps have drumbeats and spinners. These items are collectively known as "hit objects", and are arranged in different positions on the screen and in different points of time. In osu!standard, beatmaps consist of three items hit circles, sliders, and spinners. A level in any of these modes is called a "beatmap". There are four official game modes: "osu!" (unofficially called osu!standard), "osu!taiko", "osu!catch" (formerly "osu!ctb"), and "osu!mania". Osu! has received generally positive reviews, and is also sometimes recommended by professional players of other games to practice or warm up. Its gameplay is inspired by titles such as Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan, Taiko no Tatsujin, Beatmania IIDX, Elite Beat Agents, O2Jam, StepMania, and DJMax. Originally released for Microsoft Windows on September 16, 2007, the game has also been ported to macOS, Linux, Android and iOS. Osu! is a rhythm game primarily developed, published and created by Dean "Peppy" Herbert.
