Do we have to re-start the game with this update? Or is it unnecessary?
If you're on PC, Linux or Mac it shouldn't be necessary. Just load a save near the end of build 0.2 or build 0.2.5 and go straight to the new content.
If you're on Android there may be some issues where the old save files won't show up, that's a RenPy limitation :(
You can still use the skip function to catch up.