Suggestions of fun, shortish play theme games.

[mqstout]

* I find FANG fast -- and even when it's not, it FEELS fast because of its high excitement levels and quick turns. And it's simple to adjust the goal value of the game to make it take longer/slower. You could even say "person with most money after X turns (or X time,
* There's always Dominion or Ascension for deck builder games. (They're weaker on the "theme".) They go quickly.
* There's a whole range of quick-play cheaper card games -- Fluxx, Chez Geek/Goth, Munchkin, and so on, usually placed near game store checkout areas like candy would be in a supermarket. They tend to stay fast as long as you don't get into many expansions. [AVOID Back to the Future!
* Forbidden Island
* BGG advanced search for max play time of 1 hour sorted by rank. http://tinyurl.com/d4ttn5m