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
Heartscape
February 13, 2020Build your deck with swords, shields, heals and more. Play them wisely to crack the locks before your heart breaks.
Lost in Time
February 11, 2020The 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
January 31, 2020It's carving time! Slice all sorts of oddly shaped objects to knock them off the ledge.
Chinese New Year Mahjong
January 24, 2020Match 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, 2020Scan the field to find the longest color chains. Surround a color to create powerups and score even more points!
Tahira's Tower
January 7, 2020You'll need to think three-dimensionally to climb this tower. Rotate the camera and figure out the difficult geometry.
Ma Puzzle
January 3, 2020Fly in every direction! Can you grab the coin and reach the door without getting swept away?
Santa Delivery
December 20, 2019It'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, 2019Put 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
November 19, 2019The classic game of brick-smashing action! Grab power-ups and extra lives before they fall. Can you set a new high score?