Editing Andrew Plotkin (section)

==Interactive fiction==
Plotkin was one of the earliest writers to use [[Graham Nelson]]'s [[Inform]] development system, and one of the first since [[Infocom]]'s heyday to explore the boundaries of interactive fiction as an artistic medium. Many later authors cite him as a primary influence. He has won many awards within the community, and is frequently interviewed for magazine articles about interactive fiction.

Plotkin has also made major technical contributions to the interactive fiction medium, designing the [[Blorb]] [[file archiver|archive]] format, the [[Glk (software)|Glk]] I/O platform, and the [[Glulx]] [[virtual machine]], and implementing [[Glulx Inform]] and several interactive fiction [[interpreter (computing)|interpreter]]s for the [[Apple Macintosh|Macintosh]] and [[X Window System|X]]. The Glk API has made possible the creation of "universal translator" interpreters such as Gargoyle, a single program capable of running all interactive fiction formats.

{{As of|2007}}, Plotkin holds two [[XYZZY Award]]-related records: for most XYZZYs won in one year (5, with ''[[Spider and Web]]'') and for most XYZZYs won in total: 18.<ref name='xyzzys'>[http://wurb.com/if/award/3 XYZZY Awards]</ref>
His most influential games are:
* ''Freefall'' (1995; Tetris clone – possibly the first so-called [[Z-machine]] abuse)
* ''[[A Change in the Weather]]'' (1995; winner of the 1995 [[IF Comp]]'s Inform division)
* ''So Far'' (1996; winner of many [[XYZZY Award]]s that year, including for [[XYZZY Award for Best Game|Best Game]])
* ''[[The Space Under the Window]]'' (1997)
* ''[[Spider and Web]]'' (1998; winner of many [[XYZZY Award]]s that year, including for [[XYZZY Award for Best Game|Best Game]])
* ''[[Hunter, in Darkness]]'' (1999; winner of the [[XYZZY Award]]s for [[XYZZY Award for Best Individual Puzzle|Best Individual Puzzle]] and [[XYZZY Award for Best Setting|Best Setting]])
* ''[[Shade (video game)|Shade]]'' (2000; winner of the [[XYZZY Award for Best Setting]])

Other Andrew Plotkin games include:

*''Lists and Lists'' (1996), an introductory course in the [[Scheme (programming language)|Scheme]] programming language
*''[[The Dreamhold]]'' (2004), a general IF tutorial game
*''Delightful Wallpaper'' (2006; sixth place in [[IF Comp]] and winner of Miss Congeniality)
*''Dual Transform'' (2010)
*''Hoist Sail for the Heliopause and Home'' (2010)

More recently, he was featured on [[CNN Money]] for successfully raising over $31,000 using [[Kickstarter]] for development of a new interactive fiction piece called ''Hadean Lands'' for the [[iPhone]] and release of the resulting iPhone game framework as [[Open-source software|open source]].<ref name='Kickstarter'>{{cite news| url=https://money.cnn.com/2010/11/15/technology/kickstart_plotkin/index.htm | work=CNN | first=Andrew | last=Plotkin | title=How I raised $24,000 on Kickstarter | date=November 15, 2010}}</ref> Plotkin was also featured prominently in the 2010 interactive fiction documentary, [[GET LAMP]].<ref>{{cite web|title=GET LAMP interviewees|url=http://www.getlamp.com/cast/|publisher=Jason Scott|accessdate=January 26, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=IMDb |website=[[IMDb]] |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4146031/|accessdate=January 26, 2012}}</ref>

On June 24, 2014, Plotkin released the [[source code]] for several of his games for educational purposes.<ref>[http://gameshelf.jmac.org/2014/06/old-zarf-code/ Old Zarf code] by Andrew Plotkin (June 24, 2014)</ref>