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

Slippery Delivery Gameplay

Slippery Delivery

May 16, 2024

There's something fishy about this mailman! Take care on your way to the mailbox and back... it's quite slippery out there.

Light the Lamp Gameplay

Light the Lamp

May 15, 2024

Carefully weave through hazardous electrical setups to connect to the power outlet. You'll need lots of light bulb moments to solve these puzzles!

Donnies Spinning World Gameplay

Donne's Spinning World

May 13, 2024

Wake up, spin the world, and smell the flowers! But watch out for those thorns... Plan your path through this garden of delights carefully!

Cakefoot Gameplay

Cakefoot

May 10, 2024

All you have to do is press one button to make the walking cake walk. The rest is timing and perseverance!

Cell Manager Gameplay

Cell Manager

April 26, 2024

This is a game of life, numbers, and an insatiable appetite for yellow fruits. Expand your territory to keep eating!

Stack Game Gameplay

Stack Game

April 23, 2024

Timing is of the essence in this stacking game. Build a tower block by block that reaches the highest point possible!

Hex Gaps Gameplay

Hex Gaps

April 19, 2024

Snap these shapes back in place! Form big and exciting shapes while leaving no shape behind.

Cell to Singularity Mesozoic Valley Gameplay

Cell To Singularity: Mesozoic Valley

April 18, 2024

No fossils here... they're all living, breathing dinosaurs! Learn more about the prehistoric giants as you click your way through their story.

AFK Protocol

April 17, 2024

Help the AFK player get to the exit! Slingshot and slide your character to the exit using the level's rubbery walls.

Tower Boom Level Pack Gameplay

Tower Boom Level Pack

April 16, 2024

Plant your dynamite, then fire in the hole! Bring the building down below the green line to win. Can you solve these explosive puzzles?