Pao Salcedo

Game Curator

Pao standing over a skillet full of bistek tagalog

Favorite Coolmath Games: Powercut, 8 Ball Pool
 

Pao is an advertising copywriter turned game producer. A graduate of the NYU Game Center's Game Design MFA program, he has over 9 years of experience playing, testing, and curating games in an academic or professional setting.

As a Senior Game Producer at Coolmath Games, Pao has created comprehensive game design documents for experienced external developers and translated them into launched games, such as Rock Paper Scissors, Pirate Battle: Ships Ahoy, and Tag.

He has licensed over 100 games and counting for CoolmathGames.com (including Tiny Fishing, Slice Master, and Duck Duck Clicker) and the Coolmath Games mobile app.

Before Coolmath Games, Pao worked at Computer Lunch, developers of the hit mobile games Cell to Singularity and Mama Hawk. He researched historical tidbits for Cell to Singularity and wrote write-ups for limited-time events. He also wrote in-game text and copy for Mama Hawk, and store descriptions for the App Store and Play Store.

Prior to that he was briefly a playtester for one of the most successful tabletop RPG Kickstarters ever.

In a previous life, he was a creative copywriter in multinational ad agencies in the Philippines.

Outside the hallowed, equation-filled halls of Coolmath Games, he is playing old JRPGs, trying to catch up to the latest One Piece volume, and experimenting with his lola's adobong manok recipe. 

 

WORK EXPERIENCE

  • COOLMATH GAMES | Senior Game Producer
    2019 – Present
  • COMPUTER LUNCH | Game Researcher
    Apr – Jun 2019, Sep 2022
  • KICKSTARTER RPG | Game Tester
    Apr 2019
  • COMPUTER LUNCH | Game Design and Copywriting
    Jun – Aug 2017
  • LEO BURNETT GROUP MANILA | Creative Team Head
    May 2014-May 2016
  • TBWA\SANTIAGO MANGADA PUNO | Copywriter
    June 2010 – April 2014

 

EDUCATION

  • NEW YORK UNIVERSITY, USA, MFA Game Design
  • ATENEO DE MANILA UNIVERSITY, PHILIPPINES, BS Business Management
  • ÉCOLE SUPÉRIEURE DE COMMERCE, PAU, FRANCE, Int’l Management Program

 

CONFERENCES ATTENDED

  • Game Developers Conference 2023
  • Indiecade 2017, 2018
  • PlayNYC 2018, 2021
  • Waffle Games 2018

Games Reviewed By Pao Salcedo

Membrillo Hid My Socks Gameplay

Membrillo Hid My Socks

September 21, 2026

Your cat hid your socks in the various nooks and crannies of your room. Leave no drawer unopened, and no trash can unexplored to find them all!

Rovity Gameplay

Rovity

September 10, 2026

Roll, roll, roll the cube gently through the maze! Gravity is your friend in this world-turning adventure.

SpaceBurst Gameplay

SpaceBurst

August 20, 2026

Solve puzzles with your trusty jetpack. Jet around the level, collecting coins as you go!

Bytix Gameplay

Bytix

August 17, 2026

Can you collect all the bits on this neon-tinged motherboard? Slide your way around after planning your path.

Swivix Gameplay

Swivix

August 11, 2026

This isn't your usual block matching game! Keep rotating the blocks round and round to form lines and squares.

Hueflow Gameplay

Hueflow

July 14, 2026

Match colors with precision in this daily color-matching game! Add drops of red, green, or blue until the right swatch appears.

DD 2K Shoot Gameplay

DD 2K Shoot

July 9, 2026

The numbered bubbles are coming! Take aim and launch matching numbers so they go pop-pop-pop!

2048 Remastered Gameplay

2048 Remastered

July 7, 2026

2048 is back and bigger than ever! The classic game is back with new, larger grids to play to get the highest score possible.

Dropstack Gameplay

Dropstack

July 6, 2026

Enjoy a daily block placement game. Rotate and drop blocks without leaving any gaps today, tomorrow, and every day after.

Zero 21 Solitaire Gameplay

Zero 21 Solitaire

June 23, 2026

Can't be too low, but don't reach too high! Collect all of the cards on the board and keep your number between 0 and 21.