The Beasties: By Mappers, for Mappers.
The BeastSaber Mapping Awards were launched in 2021 to highlight the best of the best of the art (and science) of making custom Beat Saber maps. The first year featured 29 categories, garnered 760 nominated maps, resulting in 96 finalists, with more than 45 medals won.
Map curation is focused on maps that avoid objectively bad mapping and have a “fun factor” that appeals to a member of our curation team – the “blockbuster movies” of the custom map world. The Beasties go beyond the fun factor to dig deep into mapping theory and practices to highlight the maps that may not have grabbed the spotlight but are well-constructed and have incredible representation, emphasis, and flow to truly capture the feel of the song – the art films of the custom map world.
What’s Changing for 2022?
We’ve received a lot of constructive community feedback on the 2021 awards and already have a few tweaks planned for 2022!
Have questions? Visit the FAQ below, and if that doesn’t answer your questions, head over to the BeastSaber Discord.
Nominations are open through December 14, 2022
Eligibility Period
December 1, 2021 at 00:00 UTC to November 30, 2022 at 23:59 UTC
2022 Beasties Categories
We took the feedback we received from both mappers and the community about the 2021 categories, discussed, nipped, tucked, and tweaked to pull together a slightly different slate of awards for this year. See the complete list of 2021 Winners.
Any categories that do not receive at least five qualified nominees will not be awarded at the end of the year.
Overall Categories
Map of the Year TWEAKED!
The best unmodded map of the year. Full stop. It has it all – representation, emphasis, flow – everything coming together for an incredible playing experience to go with the song.
Example Map
OST/DLC Map of the Year NEW!
Let’s take a moment to shine some light on the great work that our community-turned-official mappers have done and celebrate the best official map made in 2022.
Example Map
Skrillex – Devil’s Den
Pack of the Year
The map pack that has it all: a tight theme, new high-quality maps, and a great presentation across all difficulties, all wrapped up in a .bplist bow.
Example Pack
Best Full Spread Map
This map has something for players at every level and does it with style and masterful mapping. To qualify, the map must have all five *true* difficulties—Easy, Normal, Hard, Expert, ExpertPlus.
Example Map
Best Alternate Game Mode Map TWEAKED!
This category celebrates the best of non-standard characteristics: Single Saber, No Arrows, and 360/90-Degree maps. Maps must actually use the alt characteristic and not mods to simulate.
Example Map
Individual Awards
Mapper of the Year
A mapper who not only excels in their art but also shares their experience, leads, and mentors as they are able.
2021 Winner & Runner-up
Lighter of the Year
A lighter – vanilla or chroma – who not only excels in their art but also shares their experience, leads, and mentors as they are able.
2021 Winner & Runner-up
Rookie Mapper of the Year
The best up-and-coming mapper whose first map was released during the nomination period. Previously deleted maps count as first map releases.
2021 Winner & Runner-up
Rookie Lighter of the Year
The best up-and-coming lighter whose first map/lightshow was released during the nomination period. Previously deleted maps count as first map releases.
2021 Winner
Map Style Categories
Best Dance Style Map
With a blend of big arm swings, high movement, and a bit lower density, the best map in the “Dance” category gets players of all ages grooving to the beat and sweating up a storm.
Example Map
Best Tech Style Map
With more angles than a dodecahedron, the best map in the “Tech” category bends the concept of parity to its will to create a challenging sight-read that retains great flow.
Example Map
Best Fitness Style Map NEW!
Build strength to the beat. The best fitness map forces constant natural movement in all dimensions with walls and bloqs that keep the flow until your legs give out.
Example Map
Best Balanced Style Map
Look in the sky! Is it a tech map? Is it a dance map? Is it a speed map? WE DON’T KNOW! The Best Balanced Style Map is the mutt of the neighborhood – a little of this, a little of that – all combining into one fantastic map.
Example Map
Best Accuracy Style Map
Chase that sweet high accuracy in a very, very careful dance. The best map in the Accuracy category has excellent rhythmic choice and well-placed emphasis with the fewest amount of notes.
Example Map
Best Speed Style Map
Nothing screams “speed” more than that feeling of lactic acid setting in after tackling thousands of notes at mind-blowing BPMs, and the best map in the “Speed” category delivers an extra helping.
Example Map
Best Challenge Style Map
Ranking Criteria? Curation? Mapping fundamentals? These are but chains to restrict the seemingly endless and wild imagination of challenge mappers. The best map in the “Challenge” category pushes the limits in every way.
Example Map
Best Alternative Style Map NEW!
Poodles and Pauls and Bombs, oh my! The best “alternative style” map shows of some of the wacky manipulations that play fast and loose with gameplay and have become community fan favorites.
Example Map
Ranked Categories
Best Ranked Map by Difficulty TWEAKED!
There will be four star splits for 2022 instead of the two we had in 2021. Nominate your favorite ranked map diff and our team will sort it into the appropriate category. Splits are currently under 4*, 4-7*, 7-10*, and 10+* though splits will likely need to be adjusted after PPV2.9.
2021 Winners
Modded Mapping
Best Modchart Visuals TWEAKED!
Formerly called “Artmaps,” these maps use all the power of Noodle Extensions and Chroma to convey the music and/or tell us a story through the creative use of mods and any notemods aren’t the main focus of the map.
Example Map
Best Modchart Gameplay TWEAKED!
Here? There? Where is the next note coming from?! This category includes maps that feature solid mapping AND alter the gameplay in mind-blowing ways through animation and manipulation of notes and obstacles.
Example Map
Lighting Categories
Lighting nominations only have one “funnel” on the form. The Beasties team will separate maps into the right categories based on their construction. Impending changes to the base game lighting system will also impact categories.
Best Vanilla Lights
The Best Vanilla Lights use ONLY base game V1 and V2 lighting mechanics and not only perfectly represent the music, but also add that ‘WOW’ factor when playing.
Example Map
Best Vanilla+ Map TWEAKED!
This category highlights maps that make amazing use of the new enhanced V3 lighting system available when using the new Official Editor.
Example Map
Kazmasa (feat. Hatsune Miku & IA) – Phantom’s Wonderland (old V+)
Best Chroma Lights
The Best Chroma Lighting category is full of any and all light shows that might make you drop the Full Combo to marvel at the beauty in the background using RGB color, precise component control, and Light ID.
Example Map
Best Chroma+ Lights
Chroma+ adds environment enhancement to the overall chroma toolbox to create custom experiences that are out of this world.
Example Map
Frequently Asked Questions
Last updated March 5, 2022
Have a question for The Beasties team that isn’t listed here? Ask us on Discord!
I am a mapper. Can I nominate my own work for an award?
In a change from 2022, yes, you can nominate your own map for the appropriate category. You are limited to self-nominating ONE of your maps for a given category so be sure you are truly focusing on your best work. Self-nominations are not permitted for the individual categories (Mapper/Lighter of the Year, Rookie Mapper/Lighter of the Year).
Who chooses the finalists in each category?
We’ve lined up a team of about 20 Verified Mapper “Subject Matter Experts” spanning all of our categories. We may add more throughout the year based on the volume we’re seeing but our primary goal was to identify at least three “experts” in each area. For example, we have tech mappers and players screening tech maps; modcharters screening modcharts, experienced Chroma lighters screening lightshows, etc. We also get additional input from the BeastSaber curation team to supplement expert input.
What if one of the experts is also nominated in a category?
With a limited pool of willing, skilled volunteers we are bound to have situations where a mapper may be nominated in the category they are assisting with screening. In these cases, the mapper must abstain from screening their own maps. For example, let’s say the Best Tech Map category gets 20 nominations and mapper “Moespastic” mapped two of them but they’re on the finalist team. They can screen the 28 other maps, but they cannot screen their own.
Can a mapper have more than one map as a finalist in a category?
No. In a practice that we began last year, even if a mapper has multiple maps deemed to be “finalist quality” by our screening team, they can only have ONE map represented in the five finalists selected for a category. Likewise, a map can only be a finalist for ONE category in a given section (see the list above for the four sections). So a map can’t be a finalist for both Best Dance Map AND Best Acc Map but could be a nominee for Best Acc Map and Best Ranked Map under 4 Stars, for example.
What is the timeline for the 2022 awards?
The eligibility period for maps and individuals is based on the date and time shown on BeatSaver. Hover over the “Uploaded” time to see the full UTC time stamp. Maps must have been released after December 1, 2021 at 00:00 UTC or before November 30, 2022 at 23:59 UTC. Beyond the nomination period, we expect finalist selection to occur in late December/early January with the awards show planned for late January/early February 2023.
Can I nominate whatever I want for a category?
The BeastSaber Mapping Awards are, well, mapping awards. This means that the mapping needs to be of the highest quality. At a bare minimum nominations need to meet objective curation standards, but our finalist review panel will be going way beyond what the curation team looks at and turning a critical eye toward timing, emphasis, representation, and much more. Nominations will be screened for major issues as they come in with everything that is finalist quality being intensely reviewed as we determine the five finalists in each category at the end of the year.
Can I nominate more than one map for a single category?
Yes, within reason. With nominations open all year in 2022, we know that you might nominate something in March and then a new map comes out six months later that you also want to nominate. This is perfectly acceptable as long as multiple nominations don’t get spammy. At the end of the day there can only be five finalists in a given category, so especially if you are nominating late in the year we recommend that you nominate what you think is the BEST map for the category out of all the ones you love.