The water drops every 10 seconds. Highest ground surfaces first, so the opening step shows barely a speck. The earlier you can name the country, the better.
Two futures sit at the tip of your bar. The grey drop lands whatever you do. Above it is what you will still bleed sitting out the wait; below it, the flat fee for skipping. While the top strip is longer, skipping is cheaper — and that is exactly when the button is there. The rest of the time the bar goes plain: nothing to decide.
This button only shows while it pays. Right after a drop, skipping the wait is worth more than it costs. Once it stops being worth it, the button goes.
Halfway down the bar, help arrives. A height scale appears showing how high the country goes and where the waterline sits — which rules out a lot at a glance.
Guessing stops the clock and hides the map, so thinking is free — but a wrong country costs 100. Two puzzles a day: normal and hard.