Attempts to participate in games — say, skittles (6)
I believe the answer is:
essays
'attempts' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'participate in games say skittles' is the wordplay.
'participate in' says the answer is hidden in the clue (I've seen 'participating in' mean this).
'ESSAYS' can be found hidden inside 'games say skittles'.
'to' is the link.
(Other definitions for essays that I've seen before include "Short pieces of writing on a particular subject" , "Disquisitions" , "Students' works" , "Tries to write compositions?" , "Tries the writings" .)