Hello, GOG community! A friend asks me almost every week for some game recommendations, for his 8 years old kid. The problem is that most of the time it ends up being too hard for him to enjoy the game.
So far I had success with Eets Munchies, and somewhat successful with World of Goo.
Not so good with: racing games, platformer games (Trine series), point and click games (Machinarium, Botanicula).
I'm looking for titles that are easy to play, with a more static approach, like Eets Munchies, where you can pause the game and think about what to do next. Also, I have tried Contraption Maker, and Osmos with no result so far.
From what I heard he plays a lot The Room on an android tablet, and enjoys it very much.
GOG recommendation would be best, but Steam, retail or android are also good.

While I wanted to say encourage him to play outside of do some DIY projects instead of playing PC games. :P
I suggest to use any game with GODmode on.
Serious Sam
Painkiller
Quake

Atleast he could enjoy the game by shooting bad guys.

I liked Torchlight too but don't know if it was easy or hard for 8 yrs old.
I would put Portal to list too but I think it would be hard for 8 yrs old.

My older daughter is also 8, and she's very fond of Botanicula. Be a little patient.
She also likes the TIM series, but she needs a little help with those.

I can also recommend Race the Sun. The play rounds are short, no adult themes, and with a little practice good sense of success.

Crystal caves series
Incredible Toons (this is toonish version of Incredible Machine, which toxicTom already recommended)
Pipedream
Lost Vikings
Lbreakout2 or similar
Supertux maybe
Supertuxkart, Wackywheels ?

For quest - Goblins, Legend of Kyrandia.

You're asking for recommendations on games for kids?
Anything from Humongous Entertainment would work, seeing as the company is aimed at kids and all.

How about the Braveland games? They are very easy TBS games and once the concept is understood, a 8-year-old kid shouldn't have problems with them.

Torchlight 2 is very easy, on easy difficulty it should be downright impossible to die. Oh come on. The later levels (the last world and back on the spaceship) are eat-your-keyboard difficult.

Tried the Lego games?

Edit: Bastion has a infinite lives mode which should be nice enough for a kid and I'd recommend Thomas Was Alone, it is a platformer but I think he might be able to handle it.

Edit 2: Using depressurizer to tag my games on Steam and POSTAL 2 is tagged family friendly. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

How much do 8 year olds read these days? Given the particular socio-economical trends shaping the development of popular consumer technology, I am inclined to say, "none".

Just moving pictures and noise...

There are a plethora of free 'games' on the various channels of social media that can keep a young one distracted for hours and for free and do so to the tune of great profit.

personally, I'd suggest simply spending time with the proto-welp; nature, life and all that 42 shit is as cheap as free and ultimately the fun bag that the pre-adult will eventually 'enjoy'

Have only good memory playing it as a kid, besides it has a lot of levels and only since "candy hell" it becomes hard.

Maybe try Minecraft or Minetest?

I hear Minecraft has a mode that lacks enemies and other hazards and just lets you build.

Minetest, an open-source game that apparently is similar to early versions of Minecraft, doesn't even have enemies (unless you install a mod that adds them).

Hammerwatch (on GOG) might be a good candidate. It doesn't really allow pausing as it's rather action oriented. But the game mechanics are extremely simple (but still fun) and a 6-year-old should easily grasp the basics. And you can advance at your own pace, most of the time. It's definitely something I would've loved as an 8-year-old.

Thank you for the many responses, I got some great recommendations so far. And sorry for the silence, I had to leave for 4h. I also wanted to say Painkiller and Quake, but people started looking at me like I'm crazy or something. I played Torchlight and I know it's not a difficult game, so I'm gonna save it. Portal would've been awesome, expect it's pretty difficult for him, I tried it already. Race the Sun is interesting, I'm gonna try it. When I was about his age, I played The Incredible Machine a lot. That is why I suggested Contraption Maker, but I'm gonna try The Incredible Machine as well. I just did a quick search for each title, and they all seem perfect, I'll do a little more research and probably play some as well. I heard of Humongous Entertainment, I guess I ignored it since I wanted to recommend something that I played and enjoyed, but I'll definitely check it out now. I could not find any demos so far, so let's plays are the way to go these days. I never heard of this series, it does looks interesting, and I see there is a demo on Steam, I'm gonna try it out later today. Also, GOG, please bring us more demos! Torchlight 2 seems like a good bet, I also played Diablo II when I was young, and I didn't have much trouble betting and enjoying the game. I didn't try any of the Lego games, but the Batman game looks interesting. Bastion seemed a bit hard, but I'm gonna check the infinite lives mode. Also, nice one with the Family Friendly tag on Steam. I don't use any social media, and so does my friend. But I appreciate the suggestion.

I never played Minecraft, I have heard of it, since it was in alpha, but I didn't get interested in playing it. I'll mark it down as a potential candidate.

That game has been sitting in my backlog since it came in one of the old humble indie bundles, I guess it's time I give it a go.

You could also try the Worms series. I know I can make a group of 8 year olds instantly entertained if I set up a game. He could play against the computer, any game in the series can be configured to fight a simple AI.

I'd second the Lego games. Most hours spent by my kids. Although I do get asked for some help and walkthrough guidance, but an English reading kid should have no problem finding that help on his or her own.

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes was a great success, LEGO Batman 3 got finished, although it's not as interesting afterwards as Marvel, and the LEGO Movie game also looks pretty good so far. Harry Potter didn't go that great.