FEEL ALL THE FEELS! Congrats on the return home. I wish I had your determination to find a format that is precisely what you want. Someday, perhaps, I shall go once more into that particularly daunting breach (yup, that's what he said), but I'm not yet so brave. Go forth, good sir, and return home.

I highly recommend Descent. Here, have a link where they explain it better than I could: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descent:_Journeys_in_the_Dark It might be a game that warrants some practice run-throughs to get comfortable with the game mechanic and take less time. I also dig Arkham Horror, but that is a pretty involved game and can take quite awhile, so it may not fit very well with your time constraints.

Brewing seems very much like baking: you start with science and end with consumable awesomeness! Good luck with your brewing.