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

Six Sided Streets Gameplay

Six-sided Streets

January 8, 2024

Build 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 Gameplay

All Flee

January 5, 2024

Make 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 Gameplay

Winter Gifts

December 19, 2023

Help Santa deliver all the presents! Press switches and hand gifts to all the good children. There's nothing better than seeing that smile!

Ridella Gameplay

Ridella

December 15, 2023

Solve 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 Gameplay

Slope Tunnel

December 6, 2023

Twist 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 Gameplay

Capybara Quest

November 17, 2023

A 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 Dice Gameplay

Yacht

November 14, 2023

It'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 Gameplay

Ball Surfer 3D

November 8, 2023

Roll through a cybernetic cityscape! Dodge boxes, grab gems, and surf as far as you can!

Mirror Wizard Gameplay

Mirror Wizard

October 27, 2023

Cast your teleportation spell and grab the orb! Put those mystical powers to good use and don't get stuck between the walls.

Dinosaur Game Gameplay

Dino Game

October 17, 2023

Beat your high score in this Jurassic challenge! Dodge swooping pterodactyls and annoyingly-placed cacti as you run away from extinction.