diff --git a/.changeset/leaderboard-publishing-gate.md b/.changeset/leaderboard-publishing-gate.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d7fd1cc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/leaderboard-publishing-gate.md
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+---
+"kit": patch
+---
+
+shellcade-kit: make the leaderboard requirement an opt-in publishing gate
+(`shellcade-kit check --require-leaderboard`) instead of a generic conformance
+verdict.
+
+The behavioral "posts on leave" verdict false-failed correct round-based games
+(a mid-play leave is recorded at round settlement, not on the leave callback),
+and a static "must declare a board" check inside generic conformance
+false-fails the minimal test fixtures that declare no board. The kit module
+itself is unchanged; this rides a kit patch bump so the shellcade-kit binary
+re-releases in lockstep.
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index a14b6f9..7d4ff96 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -14,8 +14,8 @@ on:
 # The kit-pin job below fails CI when this pin falls behind the newest
 # published binary release, so drift can't accumulate silently again.
 env:
-  SHELLCADE_KIT_VERSION: "2.9.0"
-  SHELLCADE_KIT_SHA256: "9db05e285fb0d9ea41c1f2e772d1658814d9048bc9bee0e18e89d3b2a2be203d"
+  SHELLCADE_KIT_VERSION: "2.11.0"
+  SHELLCADE_KIT_SHA256: "ab459f4a08cef74b2c6bf709a35b07b75f1113ad7af4450250443e62ddb15eee"
 
 jobs:
   # Toolchain pin lockstep: the SHELLCADE_KIT_VERSION pin above is a manual