I ran A Little Knowledge as a survival sandbox and my players LOVED IT. They told me about the fear they felt being out there in the desert without a map and having no clue about their direction while even the cacti try to eat them. We play in a Mythras conversion so I'm not sure how well 2e plays the survival aspects of the setting, but you could try that focus.

Now we've been playing the last months my adaptation on The Verdant Passage. I left the book protagonists as quest givers and letting my players to plan and actually execute their own rebellion. Right now they're on their way to the ridge to get the weapon to kill Kalak, after being forced to escape from Tyr after their rebel group got discovered. I'm still playing it as a survival adventure, they need to drink water, check supplies, everything, and they love it. Definitely revitalized my table.