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

Jimmy jumping through the map

Color Cross 2

December 16, 2021

Jimmy has a pretty cool power... He can change to different shades of blue! Use his power to grab some stars and get to the flag.

Connect Four in a Row Gameplay

Four in a Row

November 30, 2021

Connect four chips in a row to win! Practice against the computer or take your skills to the big leagues in online multiplayer matches.

Grabbot solving the the puzzle.

Grabbot

November 30, 2021

The Grab-bot comes equipped with state of the art arm-stretching technology! Push, grab and pull blocks into the proper place.

Dodge

November 19, 2021

Being the lone circle around these squares means trouble! Dash around the incoming squares and make them collide to earn points.

Idle Fill Factory Events Gameplay

Idle Fill Factory Events

November 18, 2021

If you had a store, how would you make a profit? Stock your shelves with candy, chips, and more to make a profit. Just don't eat your whole supply!

Block Rush

November 2, 2021

Slip and slide your way to the treasure chest. Will you risk it and go for the crown first? Heavy is the block who wears the crown!

Ruiton

October 22, 2021

Why walk and jump when you can walk, jump AND teleport? Throw a part of yourself and teleport to it. Escape the treacherous dungeon in one piece!

Fuse Gameplay

Fuse

October 14, 2021

Link up colors to get a high score! Climb the color chain from red to green to blue and beyond. How far can you get?

Surabikku

October 5, 2021

It's like portrait painting... but with tiles. Slide the squares until the images match. Start with basic shapes, move into countries, and make pixel art!

Parking Tight

September 28, 2021

Cram in every car and fill up the parking lot. Who cares if they can get out? Just make sure you fit them all in!