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

Heartscape

February 13, 2020

Build your deck with swords, shields, heals and more. Play them wisely to crack the locks before your heart breaks.

Lost in Time

February 11, 2020

The evil Time Lord has sent his robotic henchmen to track you down! Sneak past them and grab the keys before they catch you.

Slice of Zen Game Screenshot

Slice of Zen

January 31, 2020

It's carving time! Slice all sorts of oddly shaped objects to knock them off the ledge. 

Chinese New Year Mahjong Game Screenshot

Chinese New Year Mahjong

January 24, 2020

Match lucky cats, lanterns, oranges and more in this Lunar New Year themed puzzle. Make your moves quickly before time runs out!

Connect the Dots

January 16, 2020

Scan the field to find the longest color chains. Surround a color to create powerups and score even more points!

Tahira's Tower

January 7, 2020

You'll need to think three-dimensionally to climb this tower. Rotate the camera and figure out the difficult geometry.

Ma Puzzle

January 3, 2020

Fly in every direction! Can you grab the coin and reach the door without getting swept away?

Santa Delivery

December 20, 2019

It's Christmas Eve, and Santa has a sleigh full of gifts! Plan Santa's route so he delivers all the gifts without crashing.

Connect the Roads

November 26, 2019

Put on your city planning hat and take to the streets. Slide the roads to build a path and get your car back home!

Brick Breaker gameplay

Brick Breaker

November 19, 2019

The classic game of brick-smashing action! Grab power-ups and extra lives before they fall. Can you set a new high score?