Pao Salcedo
Game Curator

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
Burger Stacker
January 15, 2026This ain't your usual burger-making game. Stack ingredients in the right order, then cook them to perfection in this challenging platformer!
Maze 3D
January 9, 2026Find your way out in 3D! Solve everything from straightforward paths to intricate labyrinths.
Type Invaders
January 5, 2026Enemies incoming, type as quickly as you can to blast them into space dust! Defeat enemy ships by typing each word correctly and survive as long as you can.
Mergeban
December 17, 2025Block-pushing meets number-merging! Merge blocks until only one remains in this carefully crafted puzzler.
Color Cars Parking
December 5, 2025Park cars, but don't let them bump into each other! Click on the cars in the correct order to get everyone to their destinations without a scratch.
Blokmatik
December 2, 2025Do some cool math to clear the blocks! Click on the blocks that add up to a number equal to the number on top.
Merge and Double
November 18, 2025Match three or more blocks, then watch 'em fall! If three or more are connected, click them to make them merge.
Twisted Maze-sama
November 17, 2025Shift the tiles and escape the maze! Reach the flag at the end while moving the maze to fit the path you need to travel.
Mini Crossword
November 11, 2025Solve these tiny but challenging puzzles! Use the clues and work your way down and across to find every word.