Free beta

North Star: Tales of the Second Wind

NCLEX prep, except it's a pirate voyage and you're the ship's nurse.

Somewhere past Port Mercy, an outlaw hospital-ship called the Second Wind raids the syndicate's medicine convoys and gives the cargo away, and her crew is short exactly one nurse. That's you. Every shift aboard is real NCLEX prep in disguise: triage waves, med math, isolation calls, the conversations that keep people alive. By the time you reach the Crossing, you'll have lived the material instead of drilling it at 2am.

Play the beta → Free during the beta. Play as a guest. Opens in a new tab.

A ward below decks, working a patient's case one cot at a time

The Second Wind's deck at sunset, with a Start story button and the wards, the story, the crew and the readiness exam marked as places to go

The ship's deck at sunset with a Start story button, and hotspots for the wards, the story, the crew, the readiness exam and more — The deck is the first screen. Start story sets sail

Five patients on the dock with their vitals, waiting to be inspected and ranked — The dock: look everyone over, then rank them sickest first

A ward screen with a patient's case open and findings to sort into the right care — A ward below decks, one cot at a time

A chart of lit islands connected by a golden route, with Command Harbor at the start — The voyage chart. Command Harbor is the first island

The Lighthouse Dojo menu, six skies named for the shape of question they drill — The Lighthouse Dojo: six skies, one for each shape of question

The Meridian Run's setup, with Exam view and Exam-day conditions both on: a five-hour clock and optional breaks at the 2-hour and 3.5-hour marks — The Meridian Run, with Exam view and exam-day conditions switched on

An exam item in the plain exam format, with a five-hour clock counting down, Item 1 of 85, and a Take a breath button — Exam view: item one as a plain exam item, with the clock running

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Screenshots

Inside the Second Wind

Straight off the live beta. This is what's waiting when you come aboard.

What's aboard

Learn by sailing through a story, not grinding a question bank below deck
Adventure on the surface, NCLEX blueprint underneath, mapped to what the exam actually tests
A full-length practice run with a five-hour clock, optional breaks and three case studies, and an Exam view that shows each item in the plain exam format
Charted by an OR nurse who has white-knuckled these exams herself
Flying the same flag as everything on this site: studying should not feel like punishment

Prologue

You signed on at Port Mercy because the Captain smiled like he knew a shortcut, and because staying ashore meant one more night pretending your trained hands don't shake. Nobody mentioned what the ship really was. Now the Second Wind heels into open water with a hold full of stolen medicine, and Rook explains, cheerfully, that all of it gets given away. The quartermaster looks you over exactly once. "I count saves," she says. So start saving.

The work comes fast: fevers to triage, doses to draw, a boy called Minnow who won't give his real name and won't leave your side. Every patient you steady is a blow the syndicate feels, because out here, care is power that does not run out. Somewhere past the Everstorm waits the Crossing, the passage that stops asking the moment it knows where you are. The bell is ringing. This time, answer it.

How it works

Play as a guest

No account to make. Leave an email later if you like. For now your voyage lives on this device.

Every door open

The whole voyage is open while the beta runs. Nothing to buy.

Made for your phone

Portrait, one hand. Add it to your home screen and it plays like an app.

Real NCLEX shapes

Triage waves, med math, isolation calls, case files. The exam's own item types, inside a story.

The Second Wind is on her sea trials

North Star is free while it's in beta, and the ship is still being fitted out. Cards, art and wording will keep moving. If something feels off or a door won't open, tell me.

Play the beta →

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NCLEX® is a registered trademark of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, which does not endorse this product. North Star: Tales of the Second Wind is an independent study tool and is not affiliated with the NCSBN.