Thanks for the comments. :-) I was a bit hesitant about entering this in Games as well (I didn't take it for the challenge), but I figured the same thing about playing = a game. It is just fascinating to watch him play!
I was your 8. I really like this and it looks like he's playing to me. Playing = a game doesn't it? I love his look of concentration and his employment of his mouth as a third hand.
Maybe on the fringes on how my brain would like to define as games, but kids make games of anything, so I'm trying to reshape my brain. The black background to the portrait is well done, this little guy pops nicely.