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
Ice Cream Man
June 23, 2022It's a scoop. It's a dollop. It's Ice Cream Man! Someone left you outside... Can you make it back to the freezer before you melt?
Duplicube
June 21, 2022Take over the board with your color! Click on the right spot and watch the space fill with color. Can you take over all the boards?
Strinop
June 14, 2022Drink up to power up! Your powers are contained in potions scattered all over the level. Pick them up to escape the evil dimension!
Number Drop
June 13, 2022Can you reach 2048 by stacking the numbers like Tetris blocks? Double the numbers and increase your score to get some coins!
Efi
June 9, 2022Your baby birds are lost in the cave! Glide around the maze to find them all. Dodge your own trail and cruise through the different paths.
Split Second
June 6, 2022Reverse the flow of time! Explore levels, solve puzzles with your past self and unravel the mystery of time itself.
Full Stacks
June 3, 2022Stack the rings on all the pegs! When a peg turns green, that means it's fully stacked. Can you pile all the rings in perfect order?
Leave One Ball
June 2, 2022These balls are ready to roll! Can you drop all but one out of the dungeon? You get to choose the unlucky sphere that stays behind...
Mini Bowl
May 31, 2022Is it golf? Is it bowling? Does it matter? You'll be bowled over by all the challenges! Try to get a strike in one amazing shot.
Blocked Up
May 16, 2022The blocks are rising! Match three of the same color to stay below the sensor and avoid getting zapped. Be careful, your blocks can crush you.