I've been investigating this also originally thinking it's a bug, here's what I can say:
- The game has a countdown timer that still goes as normal even though you can move earlier (1st round only).
- The game doesn't tell you anything about this.
- People post about it in confusion mostly reporting it as a bug.
- People find out about it on their own in game or from forum posts.
So yes, this works for everyone only in the first round and it is intended as confirmed by the developer on Discord (quote: "not a bug! :b").
The only explanation I can think of regarding this is just the dev intention to add comedic randomness to the game, like "break the rules" sort of thing. I like the idea, but not sure if I'm fond of the current implementation because of how it's communicated to the player.
I would suggest altering this somehow, but not sure if I can cook up a neat idea from the top of my head. Could be something along the lines of randomizing the timer, so the "GO" can be after "2" or "3".
I agree the timer still going while you can move is very misleading, and only the experienced people will take advantage of this to be fair.