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

Cram Blocks Gameplay

Cram Blocks

January 3, 2023

Drop the different shapes in to put the block back together again! Rotate the pieces to fit into the spaces of the oddly shaped blocks.

Super Pickleball Adventure Gameplay

Super Pickleball Adventure

December 15, 2022

Pick up your racket, young athlete... This quest is only for the sportiest of all adventurers. Defeat legendary opponents on your way to the championship!

Rock Paper Scissors Gameplay

Rock, Paper, Scissors

November 30, 2022

Challenge opponents online in this tail-waggingly good game. Are you going to throw rock, paper, or scissors? Play this right meow!

Magnet Mayhem Gameplay

Magnet Mayhem

November 7, 2022

Wield your powers of attraction to magnetize blocks and get to the star. Get those electromagnetic neurons firing and don't fall off!

Scanline

October 31, 2022

You're trapped in an operating system you can't control. Can you push the right buttons and successfully log out?

Delia The Traveling Witch Game Logo

Delia the Traveling Witch

October 25, 2022

What starts as a simple request turns into a startling adventure! With your pet pig Bao stolen, you need to travel the realm and save your beloved companion.

A Strange Creature Joined My Party Screenshot

A Strange Creature Joined My Party

October 18, 2022

Team up with a magical critter! Save the forest from a mysterious blight, or hunt for treasure in a crumbling tower. The choice is yours!

Escape Sequence Gameplay

Escape Sequence

September 19, 2022

You're trapped inside an unknown facility with nothing but your wits and directional blocks. Push the blocks together to move the robots and escape!

Color Push

September 2, 2022

Push the color blocks to the light! Some blocks are a bit complex, so pay attention to the arrows on each block or if they have any at all.

Zenge Gameplay

Zenge

September 1, 2022

Piece together the broken shapes! Every puzzle you solve reveals more of the bigger picture. Can you find out what lies beyond the keyhole?