You need to install AutoHotkey to make it work. osu!dev smoogipooo says that it is not considered cheating, by the way. Which is why I prefer using keyboard shortcuts that I can use with a single hand, to quickly change gamma between each map, or even between individual parts of a single map. If you have to spend several seconds every time you want to change gamma while playing osu, then that may just be too annoying to bother with. Script for changing gamma with keyboard shortcuts Whether you want to increase or reduce gamma when playing EZHD depends on your individual skills, and whether you have most problems with the object density or the early fade-out. But if you're playing a low-AR map on HD, increasing gamma will increase object density, so whether you want to increase or decrease gamma when using HD is usually a trade-off between these two things.

Increasing gamma will therefore make the circles stay visible for longer, which can be usefwl in some situations.

The HD mod makes circles fade out before you have to click them.

Lowering gamma on maps like that may prove usefwl. For example, a 250 bpm alternating map on AR 9 may be just as hard to read due to object density as a different 170 bpm map at AR8, simply because the first map has more circles per unit of time. The object density of a map depends on its AR, but also on how fast it is mapped. The higher the object density, the harder it is to read the patterns, which is why the EZ mod is actually very hard. * 'Object density' is how many objects are visible on the screen at once. The effect of this is actually quite significant, and helps me a lot when I'm playing EZ.

Lowering gamma will make circles visible later, which is usefwl for playing maps with high object density*.

This is very usefwl for playing high AR, for example with HR.

Increasing gamma will make circles visible sooner, because normally they fade in instead of being at full brightness immediately.

Summary of the effects of gamma on gameplay I'll summarise the main points but each point is demonstrated visually in the video. Jolene has a great video where she explains the benefits of reducing or increasing gamma during gameplay.

How to increase gamma