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

Lode Gameplay

Lode

June 12, 2023

Gravity works differently in this cave... With the power of your shiny gem, alter gravity and climb through the underground to escape!

Marcus Osnail Gameplay

Marcus O'Snail

May 23, 2023

Marcus is not your ordinary snail... He can flip his world all around! Help Marcus O'Snail get to the exit as quickly (or slowly) as possible.

Bounce and Block Gameplay

Bounce and Block

May 19, 2023

Pew pew pew! It's time to bounce the balls into the goal! Can you find the right combination of bounces to hit the target?

Elemental Cubed Gameplay

Elemental Cubed

May 17, 2023

Collect lights to make the pillar rise to the next level! Match elements to unlock your path.

Mini Blocks DX Gameplay

Mini Blocks DX

May 12, 2023

This little wall-jumping, block-switching slime needs to get to the portal again. Only the quickest blobs will escape this dimension!

Space Walrus 3000 Gameplay

Space Walrus 3000

May 3, 2023

You're big, slow and, well... A walrus! Good thing you're confident in your jumping abilities. These pesky spikes and chasms don't stand a chance!

Multisheep Gameplay

MultiSheep

May 1, 2023

Move the world and save the sheep! These sheep move as one flock, so make sure none of them fall off the island.

Rolling Magnet Gameplay

Rolling Magnet

April 24, 2023

Being a magnet comes with a lot of responsibility...and electro power! Roll around and use your forces to reach for the star(s).

Slide and Fall Gameplay

Slide and Fall

April 19, 2023

Don't be stuck on the top, fall to the bottom! Slide the boxes to create gaps to fall from. Can you reach the bottom in the right amount of turns?

Mini Flips 2 Gameplay

Mini Flips 2

March 28, 2023

Are you ready to flip gravity? Jump and flip for coins while avoiding new traps and enemies! Can you collect all the coins and get through 81 levels?