diff --git a/packages/playground/devEnv/Home.tsx b/packages/playground/devEnv/Home.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e7b7c49
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/playground/devEnv/Home.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+import React from 'react'
+
+export const Home = ({groups}: {groups: {[groupName: string]: string[]}}) => (
+  <ul>
+    {Object.entries(groups).map(([groupName, modules]) => (
+      <li key={`li-${groupName}`}>
+        <span>{groupName}</span>
+        <Group
+          key={`group-${groupName}`}
+          groupName={groupName}
+          modules={modules}
+        />
+      </li>
+    ))}
+  </ul>
+)
+
+const Group = (props: {groupName: string; modules: string[]}) => {
+  const {groupName, modules} = props
+  return (
+    <ul>
+      {modules.map((moduleName) => (
+        <li key={`li-${moduleName}`}>
+          <a href={`/${groupName}/${moduleName}`}>{moduleName}</a>
+        </li>
+      ))}
+    </ul>
+  )
+}
diff --git a/packages/playground/devEnv/build.tsx b/packages/playground/devEnv/build.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c88bcbc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/playground/devEnv/build.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,197 @@
+import {readdirSync} from 'fs'
+import {writeFile, readFile} from 'fs/promises'
+import path from 'path'
+import type {BuildOptions} from 'esbuild'
+import esbuild from 'esbuild'
+import type {ServerResponse} from 'http'
+import {definedGlobals} from '../../../theatre/devEnv/buildUtils'
+import {mapValues} from 'lodash-es'
+import {createServer, request} from 'http'
+import {spawn} from 'child_process'
+import React from 'react'
+import {renderToStaticMarkup} from 'react-dom/server'
+import {Home} from './Home'
+
+const playgroundDir = path.join(__dirname, '..')
+const buildDir = path.join(playgroundDir, 'build')
+const sharedDir = path.join(playgroundDir, 'src/shared')
+const personalDir = path.join(playgroundDir, 'src/personal')
+const testDir = path.join(playgroundDir, 'src/tests')
+
+const dev = /^--dev|-d$/.test(process.argv[process.argv.length - 1])
+const port = 8080
+
+const clients: ServerResponse[] = []
+
+type Groups = {
+  [group: string]: {
+    [module: string]: {
+      entryDir: string
+      outDir: string
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+// Collect all entry directories per module per group
+const groups: Groups = Object.fromEntries(
+  [sharedDir, personalDir, testDir]
+    .map((groupDir) => {
+      try {
+        return [
+          path.basename(groupDir),
+          Object.fromEntries(
+            readdirSync(groupDir).map((moduleDir) => [
+              path.basename(moduleDir),
+              {
+                entryDir: path.join(groupDir, moduleDir),
+                outDir: path.join(buildDir, path.basename(groupDir), moduleDir),
+              },
+            ]),
+          ),
+        ]
+      } catch (e) {
+        // If the group dir doesn't exist, we just set its entry to undefined
+        return [path.basename(groupDir), undefined]
+      }
+    })
+    // and then filter it out.
+    .filter((entry) => entry[1] !== undefined),
+)
+
+// Collect all entry files
+const entryPoints = Object.values(groups)
+  .flatMap((group) => Object.values(group))
+  .map((module) => path.join(module.entryDir, 'index.tsx'))
+
+// Collect all output directories
+const outDirs = Object.values(groups).flatMap((group) =>
+  Object.values(group).map((module) => module.outDir),
+)
+
+// Render home page contents
+const homeHtml = renderToStaticMarkup(
+  <Home groups={mapValues(groups, (group) => Object.keys(group))} />,
+)
+
+const config: BuildOptions = {
+  entryPoints,
+  bundle: true,
+  sourcemap: true,
+  outdir: path.join(playgroundDir, 'build'),
+  target: ['firefox88'],
+  loader: {
+    '.png': 'file',
+    '.glb': 'file',
+    '.gltf': 'file',
+    '.svg': 'dataurl',
+  },
+  define: {
+    ...definedGlobals,
+    'window.__IS_VISUAL_REGRESSION_TESTING': 'true',
+  },
+  banner: dev
+    ? {
+        js: ' (() => new EventSource("/esbuild").onmessage = () => location.reload())();',
+      }
+    : undefined,
+  watch: dev && {
+    onRebuild(error) {
+      // Notify clients on rebuild
+      clients.forEach((res) => res.write('data: update\n\n'))
+      clients.length = 0
+      console.log(error ? error : 'Reloading...')
+    },
+  },
+}
+
+esbuild
+  .build(config)
+  .then(async () => {
+    // Read index.html template
+    const index = await readFile(path.join(__dirname, 'index.html'), 'utf8')
+    await Promise.all([
+      // Write home page
+      writeFile(
+        path.join(buildDir, 'index.html'),
+        index.replace(/<body>[\s\S]*<\/body>/, `<body>${homeHtml}</body>`),
+      ),
+      // Write module pages
+      ...outDirs.map((outDir) =>
+        writeFile(
+          path.join(outDir, 'index.html'),
+          // Substitute %ENTRYPOINT% placeholder with the output file path
+          index.replace(
+            '%ENTRYPOINT%',
+            path.join('/', path.relative(buildDir, outDir), 'index.js'),
+          ),
+        ),
+      ),
+    ])
+  })
+  .catch((err) => {
+    console.log(err)
+    return process.exit(1)
+  })
+  .then(() => {
+    // Only start dev server in dev, otherwise just run build and that's it
+    if (!dev) {
+      return
+    }
+
+    // We start ESBuild serve with no build config because it doesn't need to build
+    // anything, we are already using ESBuild watch.
+    esbuild
+      .serve({servedir: path.join(playgroundDir, 'build')}, {})
+      .then(({port: esbuildPort}) => {
+        // Create proxy
+        createServer((req, res) => {
+          const {url, method, headers} = req
+          // If special /esbuild url requested, subscribe clients to changes
+          if (req.url === '/esbuild') {
+            return clients.push(
+              res.writeHead(200, {
+                'Content-Type': 'text/event-stream',
+                'Cache-Control': 'no-cache',
+                Connection: 'keep-alive',
+              }),
+            )
+          }
+          // Otherwise forward requests to ESBuild server
+          req.pipe(
+            request(
+              {
+                hostname: '0.0.0.0',
+                port: esbuildPort,
+                path: url,
+                method,
+                headers,
+              },
+              (prxRes) => {
+                res.writeHead(prxRes.statusCode!, prxRes.headers)
+                prxRes.pipe(res, {end: true})
+              },
+            ),
+            {end: true},
+          )
+        }).listen(port, () => {
+          console.log('Playground running at', 'http://localhost:' + port)
+        })
+
+        // If not in CI, try to spawn a browser
+        if (!process.env.CI) {
+          setTimeout(() => {
+            const open = {
+              darwin: ['open'],
+              linux: ['xdg-open'],
+              win32: ['cmd', '/c', 'start'],
+            }
+            const platform = process.platform as keyof typeof open
+            if (clients.length === 0)
+              spawn(open[platform][0], [
+                ...open[platform].slice(1),
+                `http://localhost:${port}`,
+              ])
+          }, 1000)
+        }
+      })
+  })
diff --git a/packages/playground/src/index.html b/packages/playground/devEnv/index.html
similarity index 90%
rename from packages/playground/src/index.html
rename to packages/playground/devEnv/index.html
index aa0685a..26c1d45 100644
--- a/packages/playground/src/index.html
+++ b/packages/playground/devEnv/index.html
@@ -24,6 +24,6 @@
   <body>
     <div id="root"></div>
 
-    <script type="module" src="./index.tsx"></script>
+    <script src="%ENTRYPOINT%"></script>
   </body>
 </html>
diff --git a/packages/playground/devEnv/vite.config.ts b/packages/playground/devEnv/vite.config.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index cc51854..0000000
--- a/packages/playground/devEnv/vite.config.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,46 +0,0 @@
-import {defineConfig} from 'vite'
-import react from '@vitejs/plugin-react'
-import path from 'path'
-import {getAliasesFromTsConfigForRollup} from '../../../devEnv/getAliasesFromTsConfig'
-import {definedGlobals} from '../../../theatre/devEnv/buildUtils'
-
-/*
-We're using vite instead of the older pure-esbuild setup. The tradeoff is
-that page reloads are much slower (>1s diff), while hot reload of react components
-are instantaneous and of course, they preserve state.
-
-@todo Author feels that the slow reloads are quite annoying and disruptive to flow,
-so if you find a way to make them faster, please do.
-*/
-
-const playgroundDir = path.join(__dirname, '..')
-
-const port = 8080
-
-// https://vitejs.dev/config/
-export default defineConfig({
-  root: path.join(playgroundDir, './src'),
-  build: {
-    outDir: '../build',
-    minify: false,
-    emptyOutDir: true,
-  },
-
-  assetsInclude: ['**/*.gltf', '**/*.glb'],
-  server: {
-    port,
-  },
-
-  plugins: [react()],
-  resolve: {
-    /*
-    This will alias paths like `@theatre/core` to `path/to/theatre/core/src/index.ts` and so on,
-    so vite won't treat the monorepo's packages as externals and won't pre-bundle them.
-    */
-    alias: [...getAliasesFromTsConfigForRollup()],
-  },
-  define: {
-    ...definedGlobals,
-    'window.__IS_VISUAL_REGRESSION_TESTING': 'true',
-  },
-})
diff --git a/packages/playground/package.json b/packages/playground/package.json
index 20fb2c4..80dcc67 100644
--- a/packages/playground/package.json
+++ b/packages/playground/package.json
@@ -8,13 +8,12 @@
     "dist/**/*"
   ],
   "scripts": {
-    "serve": "vite --config ./devEnv/vite.config.ts",
-    "build:static": "vite --config ./devEnv/vite.config.ts build",
-    "build:preview": "vite --config ./devEnv/vite.config.ts preview",
+    "serve": "node -r esbuild-register devEnv/build.tsx -d",
+    "build": "node -r esbuild-register devEnv/build.tsx",
+    "build:static": "yarn build",
     "typecheck": "yarn run build",
     "test": "playwright test --config=devEnv/playwright.config.ts",
-    "test:ci": "percy exec -- playwright test --reporter=dot --config=devEnv/playwright.config.ts --project=chromium",
-    "build": "tsc --build ./tsconfig.json"
+    "test:ci": "percy exec -- playwright test --reporter=dot --config=devEnv/playwright.config.ts --project=chromium"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "@percy/cli": "^1.3.0",
diff --git a/packages/playground/src/index.tsx b/packages/playground/src/index.tsx
deleted file mode 100644
index 4655163..0000000
--- a/packages/playground/src/index.tsx
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,92 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * TODO explain this file
- * */
-/// <reference types="vite/client" />
-
-import type {$FixMe} from '@theatre/shared/utils/types'
-import {mapKeys} from 'lodash-es'
-import React from 'react'
-import ReactDOM from 'react-dom'
-
-const groups = {
-  shared: mapKeys(import.meta.glob('./shared/*/index.tsx'), (_, path) =>
-    pathToModuleName(path),
-  ),
-  personal: mapKeys(import.meta.glob('./personal/*/index.tsx'), (_, path) =>
-    pathToModuleName(path),
-  ),
-  tests: mapKeys(import.meta.glob('./tests/*/index.tsx'), (_, path) =>
-    pathToModuleName(path),
-  ),
-}
-
-function pathToModuleName(path: string): string {
-  const matches = path.match(
-    /^\.\/(shared|personal|tests)\/([a-zA-Z0-9\-\s]+)\/index\.tsx$/,
-  )
-
-  if (!matches) {
-    throw new Error(
-      `module ${path} has invalid characters in its path. Valid names should match the regexp above this line.`,
-    )
-  }
-
-  return matches[2]
-}
-
-const Home = () => (
-  <ul>
-    {Object.entries(groups).map(([groupName, modules]) => (
-      <li key={`li-${groupName}`}>
-        <span>{groupName}</span>
-        <Group
-          key={`group-${groupName}`}
-          groupName={groupName}
-          modules={modules}
-        />
-      </li>
-    ))}
-  </ul>
-)
-
-const Group = (props: {groupName: string; modules: Record<string, $FixMe>}) => {
-  const {groupName, modules} = props
-  return (
-    <ul>
-      {Object.entries(modules).map(([moduleName, callback]) => (
-        <li key={`li-${moduleName}`}>
-          <a href={`/${groupName}/${moduleName}`}>{moduleName}</a>
-          {/* <Group key={`group-${group}`} modules={modules} /> */}
-        </li>
-      ))}
-    </ul>
-  )
-}
-
-const currentPathname = document.location.pathname
-
-if (currentPathname === '/') {
-  renderHome()
-} else {
-  const parts = currentPathname.match(
-    /^\/(shared|personal|tests)\/([a-zA-Z0-9\-]+)$/,
-  )
-  if (parts) {
-    const [, groupName, moduleName] = parts
-    const group = groups[groupName as 'shared' | 'personal']
-    if (!group) {
-      throw new Error(`Unknown group ${groupName}`)
-    }
-    const module = group[moduleName]
-    if (!module) {
-      throw new Error(`Unknown module ${moduleName}`)
-    }
-    module()
-  } else {
-    throw new Error(`Unknown path ${currentPathname}`)
-  }
-}
-
-function renderHome() {
-  ReactDOM.render(React.createElement(Home), document.getElementById('root'))
-}
diff --git a/packages/playground/vercel.json b/packages/playground/vercel.json
deleted file mode 100644
index 3955a13..0000000
--- a/packages/playground/vercel.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "routes": [{"src": "/[^.]+", "dest": "/", "status": 200}]
-}