Bill Williams's first published game was "Salmon Run" for the Atari 8-bit computers, published by the Atari Program Exchange in 1982. He then authored two titles for Synapse Software: "Necromancer" (1982) and "Alley Cat" (1983). "Alley Cat" was begun by another programmer, John Harris, who abandoned the project. Synapse ported "Salmon Run" to the VIC-20, publishing it in 1983 under the label Showcase Software. In 1984, Synapse published the stress reduction package "Relax", combining a sensor headband and mini-games providing biofeedback. The software was a collaboration between Williams and fellow Synapse game designer Kelly Jones (who wrote the 1983 Atari 8-bit game "Drelbs").