Breaking Into Google Play’s Top‑40 With KidsGames On June 7, 2025, the portfolio behind KidsGames ranked in Google Play’s top‑40 by daily installs, edging past long‑standing giants. The climb came from relentless execution rather than watching leaderboards. Only after a nudge did the team compare ranks and realize how far they had come. Over roughly two months, the account rose from top‑80 to top‑40.
From Russian Roots to Miami Base Vyacheslav Anderkin is 42, born in Russia, and now based in Miami. He leads publishing efforts on Google Play after years of hands‑on development. A design education and relentless tinkering shaped the path.
Design School Sparked a Mobile Journey Training at Moscow’s British Higher School of Design, with mentors from the Artemy Lebedev studio, set the direction. A mobile‑focused teacher urged students to ‘catch the train,’ prompting the first mobile game. By 2012, prototypes rolled out, but early projects were random and results inconsistent.
A Decade in Baby Games, Then a Hard Pivot Baby games delivered repeatable organic traffic, so the focus stayed there for years. Low revenue per user made paid acquisition unworkable, capping growth. A deliberate niche change in 2023 flipped the trajectory, with the very first probe taking off. Skeptical partners soon chased the same direction.
Melon Sandbox/People Playground Became the Launchpad Adapting People Playground’s spirit into mobile sandboxes opened a fertile niche. Being early with paid acquisition produced outsize returns. On Yandex Games, one sandbox still sits near the top for earnings, despite the platform’s smaller scale. The niche has cooled since, but early entry made the difference.
A Two‑Hour Guide App That Hit #1 Commuting by bus to a full‑time job left an hour a day to build. In two days, that time yielded an early Pokémon GO guide that hit #1 overall in six countries, even above Google and Facebook. Those markets lacked Pokémon GO itself, so search demand flowed to the guide. Trends decide outcomes.
Climbing the Charts Without Looking Back Work came first, dashboards later. After a friendly prompt, the team checked ranks and saw they were outpacing publishers they once worked with. The ascent continued day by day as shipping and testing compounded. From top‑80 to top‑40, momentum became visible.
Pick the Right Niche, Then Let UA Multiply It Half the outcome is niche selection, half is product, and acquisition sits inside the product half. A decade on organics gave passive income but wasn’t systematic. Embracing paid acquisition produced a sixfold profit jump in a single year. Google Play provides the leverage; HTML5 lacks comparable scale.
Owning Sandboxes and Roblox‑Like Systems Sandboxes and Roblox‑like games became the core competency. Outside Roblox itself, they were among the first to deploy IAP at scale in these niches. One new title’s IAP grew from about $1K in December to $15K in January and $50K in February. The breakout sandbox Last Play earned roughly 20x a rival’s IAP at that moment.
Monetizing Kids With IAPs, Events, and Trend Alignment Children respond instantly when a game mirrors what they binge in Shorts and TikTok. Rewarded ads tend to underperform, so monetization leans on trend‑driven skins, extra levels and chapters, and urgent, time‑boxed events. Events double as marketing hooks for fresh creatives and acquisition spurts. Tiny utility IAPs can be built in hours and sometimes sell as well as a month‑long chapter.
How to Get Published With Them Most partners are small, fast teams, often arriving from HTML5 with solid craft. Co‑built partner projects succeed about 70% of the time, while roughly 95% of cold, finished submissions fail initial tests. The model is to align, prototype, and iterate together for speed. One recent partner project reached top performance in two weeks via focused acquisition experiments.
UA Budgets Start Tiny and Scale Hard Initial tests may run at about $20 per day. If metrics hold, spend scales to roughly $100–150K per project per month, repeated over subsequent months. Money returns with a delay, so expectations and runway must be managed. Big budgets plus patience turn learnings into compounding growth.
Growing From Solo Dev to Publisher Helping others succeed revealed a pivot from studio to publisher. Learning internal publishing—from operations to legal—became a new discipline. The company expanded people, partners, and leverage, and counterparties began to seek them out with better terms. Over the last year, the organization and spend grew by an order of magnitude.
Strategic Capital Only, Not Passive Money Money‑only investors add reporting overhead, veto risks, and misaligned incentives. Fit is unknown until years later, and a poor fit can stall execution. Non‑industry partners consume time explaining basics while blocking moves. Capital that brings deep industry contribution is the only kind worth considering.
Hiring Producers and Builders for Speed Growth demands a producer steeped in Roblox‑like content, alongside strong programmers and occasional 3D artists. Python engineers are needed to evolve internal dashboards and analytics. Producers align a team’s strengths with current openings, guide MVPs, and drive the acquisition‑analytics loop. Some teams ship MVPs in two weeks, and an internal squad can go from idea to Google Play approval in eight hours.
Contracts and Payouts Are Straightforward Partnerships are formalized by contract, and payouts work globally. Developers in Russia can receive ruble payments via intermediaries with zero commission. Standard arrangements split revenue 50/50. The structure keeps incentives aligned and processes simple.
Pivoting Saved a Team on the Brink A partner team spent four months on a Roblox‑style tycoon with solid craft but weak acquisition traction. The root problem was a mischosen sub‑niche. They pivoted quickly to a trendy Strunki‑inspired sandbox on December 31, and it took off despite the trend already fading. Lower raw metrics were outweighed by the right niche fit, enabling rapid spend and growth. The team was nearly out of money before the pivot.
Selling a Game and Protecting IP In partner builds, trademarks and copyrights are registered to defend the IP while value is grown. If a sale makes sense and the developer wants it, the project is sold, even if opinions differ on price. For outside sellers, they can broker the deal and only take a commission; the developer keeps the main sum. One sandbox sale closed with all parties happy. Early sales went through an aggregator, and now many deals go direct.
Nearing Eight Figures While Expanding Platforms Company revenue is approaching $10M annually. The first Steam project is underway and nearing launch, while portfolio titles are being ported to HTML5 for organic reach. They’re also testing whether paid acquisition can work on the web. Steam’s operational hurdles get handled only within publishing partnerships to avoid distraction. Mobile remains the earnings engine.
Trendspotting and Rapid Microtests Use store intelligence to surface fresh movers by recency and downloads. When a wave shows up on Steam, YouTube, or TikTok but not yet on Google Play, build a tiny test immediately. Don’t over‑polish—check for organic demand first, then focus fully if it pops. Repeat as many microtests as possible to catch the next wave.
Characters Trump Mechanics for Kids In the kids’ market, recognizable characters drive installs more than genre. Sprunki‑style identities pulled players regardless of mechanics. Labubu trends skew older and act more like a plush craze than a game driver for kids right now. Recognition fuels desire and purchasing.
Storefront First, Then the Candy Inside To break in, hunt a niche and ship a small game fast. Wrap it beautifully with icons and screenshots so people click, even if the core is rough at first. Once organic traction appears, improve the game quickly and make it a ‘candy.’ The wrapper brings the try; the confection keeps the player.
Find a Mentor to Shorten the Pain A good mentor cuts years of mistakes. A cold email to a baby‑games leader returned detailed advice that lifted monthly income from $700 to $2,500. The collaboration deepened, and those games were later bought outright. Ask respectfully; many experts share freely.
Why Gamedev Wins: Passion, Passive Income, Freedom, Resilience Passion carried the work through many non‑systemic outcomes until systems clicked. Passive revenue tails from numerous titles stack into durable income that pays real bills for years. The craft brings global mobility and dollar earnings, and it thrives during shocks like the pandemic as entertainment demand spikes. Gamedev lets ordinary teams prosper across borders.
Ordinary Small Teams Can Become Millionaires Most hits came from tiny teams of two or three. The audience includes many potential millionaires if they focus on niches and move quickly. With testing, iteration, and grit, ordinary people build extraordinary results. The path is open to anyone willing to do the work.