Blender is a pretty amazing piece of software. I remember when you actually had to pay for the thing! Well it's been a while since those days, as Blender has been free for a while now. Still, Blender takes a lot of getting used to. Not that 3ds max and Maya aren't difficult, but since they are commercial apps (no longer competing, sadly) they have had to polish their workflow and interfaces over time to stay competitive. But in the right hands, Blender can do almost anything. The trick, as always, is that learning curve. So it was with great joy that I stumbled upon a free intro book to Blender, one which also covers the game engine. It's a hefty PDF tome that'll take you from basics to games in a fairly short time, and well worth a read for anyone wanting to try their hand at 3d.