Matchmaking (CASUAL / RANKED)
- The search widens faster. The rating window now grows every 5 seconds (+/-150, then +/-300, then +/-600) and is removed after 15 seconds, down from 10 / 20 / 30 seconds before.
- From 15 seconds on, the search also looks for lobbies worldwide instead of only nearby regions, so you can still find an opponent when your own region is quiet.
- Nothing changes about who you are matched with in the first 15 seconds: close-rated players in nearby regions are still tried first.

No gameplay or balance changes. Replays remain compatible.

New
- TUTORIAL mode (START GAME > LOCAL PLAYER, marked "new!"). Twelve short hands-on steps on a fixed board, one skill per step:
1-8: every item in turn - SLOW RIVALS, FREEZE, INVINCIBLE, LASER, WIDE LASER, HOMING, BOMB and WARP. Pick it up, see what it does, then use it.
9 BRAKE: race a rival into dead ends and survive by braking.
10 SIDE LASER: blast your way out of a corridor.
11 CUT OFF: drop into a rival's lane and block its path.
12 DESTROY ITEM: bomb the LASER a walled-in rival is heading for, before it can use it to escape.
- Each step shows a one-line guide at the top of the field and circles the key you need on the HUD (your own key bindings, keyboard or gamepad). CLEAR! moves you on to the next step; FAIL! tells you why and restarts the step after a moment. You can replay any step you have reached, and your progress is saved.

Changes
- START GAME: the LOCAL PLAYER group is now ordered TUTORIAL, VS AI CHALLENGE, LOCAL CUSTOM MATCH, so new players can work down the list.
- The VS AI CHALLENGE description now explains that you can start anywhere from level 1 to 12 and that filling the meter takes you to the next level, all the way to 32 and beyond.
- Long menu descriptions wrap instead of running off the screen.

No gameplay or balance changes. Replays remain compatible. Tutorial progress is stored in settings.toml under [tutorial].