Also wanted to mention for the thread, that downloading the itch launcher and choosing the setting to launch games in sandbox mode tackles the problem without needing to add the executable to antivirus/malware whitelist. The game runs fine in sandbox mode. What sandboxing does is run the executable in a separate, isolated "container" within the OS. Disclaimer: I have no idea how Itch implemented sandboxing under the hood and can't endorse it as actually secure, just saying that it's a feature in the launcher and it allows the game to run without being quarantined by AV/antimalware such as Defender.