The rules of the Modern Machine are simple: A player, by pressing corresponding buttons, must fix blocks before they grow to the end of the screen. This process is divided into rounds, which gradually increase in speed till the game is over.

However, the goal of the Modern Machine is far more sinister – it encourages a user to perform specific functions for a clearly non-existent reward. With the success of good work, the Machine’s only compensation is more difficult work – a feedback loop that is strangely evident in our lives. It becomes difficult to pinpoint if the Modern Machine is human-controlled machine, or the machine-controlled human.