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
Six-sided Streets
January 8, 2024Build up a hexagonal village! Organize the tiles and put them together to make the best village you can. What rank can you earn?
All Flee
January 5, 2024Make for the exit, but make sure no one gets left behind! That's easier said than done when every one of your clones moves at the same time!
Winter Gifts
December 19, 2023Help Santa deliver all the presents! Press switches and hand gifts to all the good children. There's nothing better than seeing that smile!
Ridella
December 15, 2023Solve the riddle in four tries or less! Each incorrect guess will give you a new hint. Can you figure out the riddle without running out of chances?
Slope Tunnel
December 6, 2023Twist and turn through the tunnel as you speed up and gather orbs! Watch out for holes in the path and try to survive as long as you can.
Capybara Quest
November 17, 2023A mean pelican tore your family apart... It's up to you to bring the capybara clan back together. Explore scenic worlds and collect every yuzu fruit!
Yacht
November 14, 2023It's all in the roll of the dice! In this classic, Yahtzee-style game, choose which dice to roll and which to lock in as you rack up points for the win.
Ball Surfer 3D
November 8, 2023Roll through a cybernetic cityscape! Dodge boxes, grab gems, and surf as far as you can!
Mirror Wizard
October 27, 2023Cast your teleportation spell and grab the orb! Put those mystical powers to good use and don't get stuck between the walls.
Dino Game
October 17, 2023Beat your high score in this Jurassic challenge! Dodge swooping pterodactyls and annoyingly-placed cacti as you run away from extinction.