Hi I was wondering if anyone can help me out, Its my first time downloading a file for a game and I'm confused on how I'm meant to play the game after I've downloaded the file. Id be very grateful for any help.
How complicated do you want your answer? ;-)
The usual answer is: unzip and run. Also, look at the game page, there might be an installation note, on how to do it.
A longer answer, well, it depends on the game. Obviously.
The act of installing a game (or any other app) is a gloryfied way of saying the game files have been copied to the harddrive of the pc and maybe some operation system specific things have been done to ensure that the app can run. This can be as simple as placing a shortcut in a start menu. And on the other end, you might need new graphic cards drivers or system libraries.
Transfer of files is typically done in a compressed archive.
There is possibililty of an installation mini app that does the installation. This is practically not used for any of the games here on itch. There might be an oddball here and there, but it is just not done anymore.
So the typical thing to do is this: unpack the archive to a location of your chosing. Navigate to that folder. Start the app. Create a shortcut elsewhere if you like. Save games are usually saved in system specific locations, so you can delete or move and "reinstall" the game wherever you like on your pc. And keep the archive in your backup folder or whatever.
You should not chose a restricted folder for unpacking the archive. The folders you get asked for admin rights to write there. Just create a games folder or something like that.
Itch also provides a client, https://itch.io/app, that should be able to handle all this for many games. It also provides optional sandbox mode. And if you have to ask how to unzip and start a game, I strongly suggest you use sandbox mode for games downloaded from the internet.
Indie games should not ask for admin rights. And there are very rare occasions where you will have to install files. Maybe some redistributables for the operating system. That can happen. But download them from official sources. I believe there are some rpg maker games that also have runtimes that can be installed on the system.
Otherwise, if you download a game from here and are asked to install additional modules, drivers or anything, or start scripts and load additional stuff from the internet, be very, very suspicous.
Oh, and the trivial answer should include, you need to click on the executeable in the extracted game folder.