Approach circles are coloured circles which shrink around hit circles in osu! beatmaps. They help players determine when to click to earn the biggest amount of score by overlapping with the hit circle at the correct moment in a song. The time it takes for an approach circle to reach a hit circle is determined by a beatmap's approach rate which is set by the mapper. The colour of approach circles is also determined by the combo colours used by the mapper of a beatmap.