A quick update I was able to get out before Halloween! (Although, now that I write about it, the update is much larger than I thought.)

Modes

• Bullseye => clearer explanation and application of the idea. (Throw knife against target to get points. The further your throw traveled, the closer you get to the maximum point value.)
• Dwarfing Dumplings => players can now die, and if so, they respawn back at their own home base ( = dumpling) after a few seconds. Neatly balances the mode further.

Arenas

• Added a completely new arena: the Swimming Pool!
• Each arena now has some element that removes throwables (ensuring the field is never too full of knives)
• Similarly, each arena has something for dead players to do and something to slice. (Even if it’s just for fun and decoration.)
• Some tweaks/additions/visual improvements, such as teleporting knives in Dark Jungle or barrels in the Ghost Town

Core mechanic

Each playtest session I did, I noticed that it just wasn't great to slice things from really close by. This is a game about throwing things, and it's much more fun (and satisfying) to hit/slice things from a distance.

After experimenting and thinking for a while, I settled on the following way to encourage this:

• Throwing from really close distance (basically standing on top of the other) does not slice them and gives the feedback "Too close!"
• Throwing from quite nearby has a probability of being succesful, which gets higher the further you get away.
• Then there's a big range where throwing will always be succesful and slice your opponent.
• But if you manage to hit someone from the other side of the field, you get a "Long throw!" reward. (Causing your knife to gain speed again, your body to grow, and to slice the other player twice if you're lucky.)

General fixes

• Minor visual glitches (such as game over rewards handed to players extending beyond the boundaries of the UI)
• Added sound effects to the newer elements (such as breakable windows or teleporting)
• (Extra) UI feedback for certain things, like a sand timer that indicates if you’ve been idle for too long (which causes the computer to throw your knife for you). 
• Similarly, extra buttons for navigating the UI on a controller. (It was impossible to remove a bot with controller before, for example.)
• Fixed some bugs with not being able to pick up throwables + made it easier to pick them up in general (regardless of their type/shape)
• Fixed a long list of tiny bugs or annoyances or balance issues. (Won’t put it here for brevity, they’re all boring tiny details.)