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

Circlix

July 12, 2021

Your best friends in this game are your line drawing skills and gravity itself. Direct the particle flow to the boxes!

Nandy

July 8, 2021

You're not the highest jumper, but you have a special power. Build your own platforms to reach the flag!

Huebert and the Chromahedron

June 24, 2021

Use your background-painting powers to make obstacles disappear! Run, jump and color swap your way out.

Edge Not Found

June 7, 2021

It's sokoban, but on an endlessly repeating grid! You're going to need infinite brainpower to solve these mind-bending, box-pushing puzzles.

Grel

June 4, 2021

There are traps and obstacles around every corner. Can you jump and dash your way to safety?

Igni: Child of Fire

June 3, 2021

You're Igni... The hottest kid on the block. Launch fireballs, melt ice, and burn wood to save all your fiery friends!

Merge Rings

June 1, 2021

Clear out the board by strategically placing and matching rings. Stack them, place them in a line... Plan ahead for big combos!

Party Animals

May 10, 2021

It's the weekend, and your friends are coming over. Stick together and solve these puzzles of epic social proportions!

Box Cutter

May 3, 2021

Can you turn a flat piece of paper into a perfectly folded box? Cut out the right shapes to advance!

Mini Colors

April 30, 2021

Light up the colors you need! Jump on, off and around the blocks to reach your blob partner!