It's certainly possible to run an algorithm as a unit test and there are regression tests that do this. However, I think most people edit their config.json in the Launcher project, set this as the startup project and hit F5.
There's lot's going on in the config.json but the main things you need are near the top:
"environment": "backtesting",
// algorithm class selector
"algorithm-type-name": "ClassNameOfYourAlgorithm",
// Algorithm language selector - options CSharp, FSharp, VisualBasic, Python, Java
"algorithm-language": "CSharp",
//Physical DLL location
"algorithm-location": "Path\NameOfYourAlgorithmLibrary.dll"
It's also possible to automate multiple parallel backtests if you ever feel the need, but this is all you need to do to run a backtest manually.