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Bica Studios

Games & Interactive
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Founded
2013
Employees
N/A
Offices
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About Bica Studios

Bica Studios was an independent game development studio based in Lisbon, Portugal, specializing in casual mobile games and augmented and mixed reality experiences. Founded in 2013, it developed original games for mobile devices before extending its work into spatial computing. Its production capabilities encompassed game and level design, engineering, interactive art, animation, and full-cycle development.

The studio’s early work focused on accessible action-puzzle and arcade games. Its debut release, Smash IT! Adventures, launched in 2014 through an international publishing partnership with Thumbstar Games, reaching iOS, Android, and Windows Phone. Subsequent releases included Smash Time, also known as Smash Time - Blob Invaders, and the mobile arcade game Slice In. These projects reflected a focus on casual play, free-to-play mechanics, and games designed for touch-screen audiences. Social competitive modes formed part of the studio’s mobile development work.

From mobile games to spatial play

As mobile hardware evolved, Bica Studios expanded into augmented and mixed reality development. It developed and prototyped experiences for Microsoft HoloLens, Google Tango, Epson Moverio, and Apple ARKit. This work extended the studio’s game design and interactive production capabilities across several emerging hardware platforms.

In late 2017, Bica Studios released PuzzlAR: World Tour for iOS. Built with Apple ARKit, the game translated the jigsaw puzzle into a three-dimensional spatial experience. It became a significant part of the studio’s transition from conventional mobile games toward play designed around augmented reality.

Bica Studios ceased active independent operations around 2018. Its former chief executive subsequently founded ONTOP, a separate company that assumed management of the PuzzlAR franchise. The later Magic Leap One release belongs to that successor studio’s work. Bica Studios’ original website subsequently lapsed, and the company no longer maintains an active official website.

More about Bica Studios

Founders and early team

  • Co-founders Nuno Folhadela and Miguel Cartier Tomás served as CEO and CTO respectively during the studio’s operating years. The founding team brought experience from Electronic Arts and Miniclip.

Financing and distribution

  • A seed financing round in late March / April 2015 was led by Portugal Ventures with angel participation. Strive Capital partner Nuno Gonçalves Pedro joined the board of directors.
  • The studio integrated the AppCoins protocol into its mobile work and expanded distribution through third-party channels.

Industry recognition

  • The report identifies PuzzlAR: World Tour as a Best AR Mobile Game of 2017 nominee/finalist at the Auggie Awards; it does not establish a studio-level award win.

Notable credits

4 credits
  • Smash IT! Adventures
  • Smash Time / Smash Time - Blob Invaders
  • Slice In
  • PuzzlAR: World Tour

Offices

Current and former locations of Bica Studios

1 location

  • Lisbon offices

    Former office
    Lisbon, Portugal
    About this office

    **Labs Lisboa** Status: inactive / historical Headquarters Address: Rua Adriano Correia de Oliveira 4A, 1600-312 Lisbon, Portugal Opened: 2015 Former physical headquarters following the 2015 seed round. The report places the cessation of studio operations around 2018 without establishing an exact premises closure year. --- **Startup Lisboa** Status: inactive / historical Address: Rua da Prata 80, Lisbon, Portugal Closed: 2015 Former incubator premises preceding the studio’s relocation to Labs Lisboa in 2015.

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