My SO works in games and has worked on some big money mobile games in the past. I can guarantee that all these factors come into play, but the biggest factor is $$$.

You pay more you are likely to see more wins then someone working free to play. If you notice, the prices of the rooms that typically place the highest you can see they spent the most on the items in the room most of the time.

I do believe the voting can bump you up or down, don’t get me wrong...but unfortunately I have to be the bearer of bad news that the goal of ANY mobile game is to keep you coming back daily, putting in small amounts every day or other day and to get you invested enough that you tell others and get teams of people playing with you.

Mobile games are a miniature form of ‘gambling’ and they tick all the boxes to keep you wanting more. So don’t get too down and confused when a really good project is at the bottom, they’ve gotta give you lows to make the highs feel amazing!