I played the game for almost 4 hours before I made the comment.
Each of my runs gave me a whole range of points. I don't remember them all exactly, but I will give all the ones that I do remember: 0 (for no keys), 25 (for one key), 50 (for two keys), 75 (I think this was three keys, but I don't remember for sure...), I don't remember much after that, but I know I did a bunch more runs. The one I definitely DO remember is the one where I actually managed to escape which was 374 points (I think? I know it started with a 3, but I don't remember for sure exactly the number. All I know is that I had enough to get the Hot and Cold Meter Upgrade, and then I was 1 Point under what I needed for the Key Pings Upgrade.).
Getting a Defense Item is definitely easy... in theory... until you actually get to an item room and all you get is a single Scanner that just tells you that all the Keys are in the same room as The Widow (Overexaggerating of course, but it always feels that way lol.), and you don't get any Strange Bottles until you go to a room that is 3 feet away from The Widow, and then you're screwed anyway.
I definitely closed doors behind me when I first started, but she immediately opens them and just continues to follow me no matter what, so that didn't help so I just decided to keep running until I found out that that doesn't help either because the MC has Extreme Asthma. But, what is "Crouch Hopping"? Maybe that will help.
I've only ever had one successful run lol. That gave me enough points to get 1 of the Key upgrades (I think I got the Hot and Cold Meter first?) and then the next run I got 1 Key before throwing just so I could the get the ONE point that I still needed to get the Key Pings (Sorry I don't remember the Upgrade names...). I also got the Map Marker Upgrade to see where The Widow is, but I found out that it was INCREDIBLY useless because you have to be completely stationary in order to use it and the game doesn't pause when you use it. I even tried using it to tell me exactly which way to go to avoid The Widow because as soon as she sees you, your run is over, but she always seems to be Puppy Guarding at least 1 Key Location which is a serious problem when you need all of them to escape and can't be seen by her under any circumstances.
I admit that I was a little frustrated with the amount of Grinding you had to do in the game at first, but I overall absolutely LOVE this game and hope you keep working on it or at least make games that are similar to this one. Also, I'm surprised to hear that you are a Solo Dev. I expected there to be at least 3 people working on this, so that's an amazing thing to hear about (except for obviously the Voice Actor, B, who absolutely knocked it out of the park with their voice for The Widow). And, I will definitely continue to play this game despite the grind (I mean, I played Vampire Mansion enough to get every single upgrade, costume, and furniture piece so that should tell you how committed I am to these types of games.). Keep up the great work Krasue Games!