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

Stuck In The Sewers

March 16, 2021

Learn the secret routes in the sewer! Scurry through pipes to grab all the coins you can find!

Small Islands

March 15, 2021

What do you do when you're stuck on an island? Grab some wood, build a bridge, and find a way out!

Pullfrog game screenshot

Pullfrog

March 2, 2021

Play Tetris with your tongue. Make full lines and level up, just don't get smashed by the pieces!

Shelled Shinobi

February 16, 2021

Who says turtles are supposed to be slow? Hop in your shell, pick up speed and slide!

Rontate

February 8, 2021

Take a walk up the wall and change the power of gravity! Rotate around the walls and ceiling and jump into the finish.

Tower Tops

February 1, 2021

Your city is under attack! Climb the ladders, grab the keys, and hurry to the top of the tower.

Color Filler

January 29, 2021

Every block has a perfect hole. Push them all to their destination, then find the perfect hole for yourself.

Me and My Launcher

January 21, 2021

Grab your launcher and get ready to fly! Blow up the spinners and run to the exit as fast as you can.

Greedy Mimic

January 14, 2021

There's something off about these villagers... Whack them with your tongue to reveal their true nature!

Tiny Fragments

January 11, 2021

Sometimes to solve a problem you need to approach it from the other side! Shuffle the world to snag the golden fruit.