It Came from the Desert is an action-adventure game produced by Cinemaware in 1989. Although rumored to have a lesbian character named Jackie (see here, here), based on our research it appears the example in question is the result of ambiguous use of the word “girlfriend.” Jackie is described in a walk-through for the game as “the daughter of Billy Bob and girlfriend of Max ‘The Enforcer’ Cobb, whose affair was commented by tabloids. She was feared to testify against him so she took her friend Suzie and went to Lizard Breath” (It Came from the Desert walkthrough). As seen in this video of the game (and the screenshot below), the confusion likely arose because she referrs to her friend Suzie as her “girlfriend,” a common practice among platonic (heterosexual) female friends.

Screenshot of Jackie
Image credit: Alan Chan, June 14, 2000, http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/it-came-from-the-desert/screenshots/gameShotId,7237/

If you have definitive evidence that this character is in fact an intentionally lesbian or bisexual character, please let us know.

LGBTQ References in this game: None (see above)

Citations

1. Chan, A. (2000, une 14) Screenshot: Jackine Monroe. Moby Games http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/it-came-from-the-desert/screenshots/gameShotId,7237/
2. DiversGamingLists (2015, February 26). Lesbians in Video Games. Retrieved from http://diversegaminglists.tumblr.com/post/112131061857/lesbians-in-video-games-i-have-seen-a-post-going
3. It Came from the Desert (n.d.) Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Came_from_the_Desert
4. LGBT Characters in video games (n.d.) Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_characters_in_video_games
5. Nox1911 (2007, January 11) Amiga Longplay: It Came from the Desert. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTWd_eyAmgQ
6. It Came From the Desert Walkthrough. (2011, February 2). StrategyWiki. http://strategywiki.org/wiki/It_Came_from_the_Desert