diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2d24f5718..d542850e4 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ long as it offers the expected interface.
 
 #### The Registry
 
-There are two options to instantiate your own registry:
+There are three options to instantiate your own registry:
 
 * By using the default one:
 
@@ -142,10 +142,19 @@ There are two options to instantiate your own registry:
 
   That is, you must provide the whole list of components to be registered with the default registry.
 
+* By using the standard one:
+
+    ```
+    auto registry = entt::StandardRegistry<std::uint16_t, Components...>{args...};
+    ```
+
+  That is, you must provide the whole list of components to be registered with the default registry **and** the desired type for the entities.<br/>
+  Note that the default type is `std::uint32_t`, that is larger enough for almost all the games but also too big for the most of the games.
+
 * By using your own pool:
 
     ```
-    auto registry = entt::Registry<YourOwnPool<Components...>{args...};
+    auto registry = entt::Registry<DesiredEntityType, YourOwnPool<Components...>>{args...};
     ```
 
   Note that the registry expects a class template where the template parameters are the components to be managed.
@@ -233,11 +242,13 @@ In particular:
 
 ```
 template<>
-struct ComponentPool<MyComponent> final {
+struct ComponentPool<Entity, MyComponent> final {
     // ...
 };
 ```
 
+Where `Entity` is the desired type for the entities, `MyComponent` the type of the component to be stored.
+
 A custom pool should expose at least the following member functions:
 
 * `bool empty() const noexcept;`
@@ -262,10 +273,10 @@ In other terms, `entt::Registry` has a template template parameter that can be u
 components:
 
 ```
-auto registry = entt::Registry<MyCustomPool<Component1, Component2>>{};
+auto registry = entt::Registry<Entity, MyCustomPool<Component1, Component2>>{};
 ```
 
-Even thoug the underlying pool doesn't store the components separately, the registry must know them to be able to do
+Even though the underlying pool doesn't store the components separately, the registry must know them to be able to do
 specific actions (like `destroy` or `copy`). That's why they must be explicitly specified.<br/>
 A generic pool should expose at least the following memeber functions:
 
diff --git a/src/component_pool.hpp b/src/component_pool.hpp
index 26f7533cb..578306f23 100644
--- a/src/component_pool.hpp
+++ b/src/component_pool.hpp
@@ -15,15 +15,15 @@
 namespace entt {
 
 
-template<typename, typename...>
+template<typename, typename, typename...>
 struct ComponentPool;
 
 
-template<typename Component>
-struct ComponentPool<Component> final {
+template<typename Entity, typename Component>
+struct ComponentPool<Entity, Component> final {
     using component_type = Component;
     using size_type = std::uint32_t;
-    using entity_type = std::uint32_t;
+    using entity_type = Entity;
 
 private:
     bool valid(entity_type entity) const noexcept {
@@ -114,13 +114,17 @@ private:
 };
 
 
-template<typename Component, typename... Components>
-struct  ComponentPool final {
-    using size_type = typename ComponentPool<Component>::size_type;
-    using entity_type = typename ComponentPool<Component>::entity_type;
+template<typename Entity, typename Component, typename... Components>
+class  ComponentPool final {
+    template<typename Comp>
+    using Pool = ComponentPool<Entity, Comp>;
+
+public:
+    using size_type = typename Pool<Component>::size_type;
+    using entity_type = typename Pool<Component>::entity_type;
 
     explicit ComponentPool(size_type dim = 4098) noexcept
-        : pools{ComponentPool<Component>{dim}, ComponentPool<Components>{dim}...}
+        : pools{Pool<Component>{dim}, Pool<Components>{dim}...}
     {
         assert(!(dim < 0));
     }
@@ -133,32 +137,32 @@ struct  ComponentPool final {
 
     template<typename Comp>
     bool empty() const noexcept {
-        return std::get<ComponentPool<Comp>>(pools).empty();
+        return std::get<Pool<Comp>>(pools).empty();
     }
 
     template<typename Comp>
     size_type capacity() const noexcept {
-        return std::get<ComponentPool<Comp>>(pools).capacity();
+        return std::get<Pool<Comp>>(pools).capacity();
     }
 
     template<typename Comp>
     size_type size() const noexcept {
-        return std::get<ComponentPool<Comp>>(pools).size();
+        return std::get<Pool<Comp>>(pools).size();
     }
 
     template<typename Comp>
     const entity_type * entities() const noexcept {
-        return std::get<ComponentPool<Comp>>(pools).entities();
+        return std::get<Pool<Comp>>(pools).entities();
     }
 
     template<typename Comp>
     bool has(entity_type entity) const noexcept {
-        return std::get<ComponentPool<Comp>>(pools).has(entity);
+        return std::get<Pool<Comp>>(pools).has(entity);
     }
 
     template<typename Comp>
     const Comp & get(entity_type entity) const noexcept {
-        return std::get<ComponentPool<Comp>>(pools).get(entity);
+        return std::get<Pool<Comp>>(pools).get(entity);
     }
 
     template<typename Comp>
@@ -168,28 +172,28 @@ struct  ComponentPool final {
 
     template<typename Comp, typename... Args>
     Comp & construct(entity_type entity, Args... args) {
-        return std::get<ComponentPool<Comp>>(pools).construct(entity, args...);
+        return std::get<Pool<Comp>>(pools).construct(entity, args...);
     }
 
     template<typename Comp>
     void destroy(entity_type entity) {
-        std::get<ComponentPool<Comp>>(pools).destroy(entity);
+        std::get<Pool<Comp>>(pools).destroy(entity);
     }
 
     template<typename Comp>
     void reset() {
-        std::get<ComponentPool<Comp>>(pools).reset();
+        std::get<Pool<Comp>>(pools).reset();
     }
 
     void reset() {
         using accumulator_type = int[];
-        std::get<ComponentPool<Component>>(pools).reset();
-        accumulator_type accumulator = { (std::get<ComponentPool<Components>>(pools).reset(), 0)... };
+        std::get<Pool<Component>>(pools).reset();
+        accumulator_type accumulator = { (std::get<Pool<Components>>(pools).reset(), 0)... };
         (void)accumulator;
     }
 
 private:
-    std::tuple<ComponentPool<Component>, ComponentPool<Components>...> pools;
+    std::tuple<Pool<Component>, Pool<Components>...> pools;
 };
 
 
diff --git a/src/registry.hpp b/src/registry.hpp
index 3c93358aa..08185f8fe 100644
--- a/src/registry.hpp
+++ b/src/registry.hpp
@@ -19,9 +19,9 @@ template<typename...>
 class View;
 
 
-template<template<typename...> class Pool, typename... Components, typename Type, typename... Types>
-class View<Pool<Components...>, Type, Types...> final {
-    using pool_type = Pool<Components...>;
+template<template<typename...> class Pool, typename Entity, typename... Components, typename Type, typename... Types>
+class View<Pool<Entity, Components...>, Type, Types...> final {
+    using pool_type = Pool<Entity, Components...>;
     using entity_type = typename pool_type::entity_type;
 
     class ViewIterator {
@@ -121,9 +121,9 @@ private:
 };
 
 
-template<template<typename...> class Pool, typename... Components, typename Type>
-class View<Pool<Components...>, Type> final {
-    using pool_type = Pool<Components...>;
+template<template<typename...> class Pool, typename Entity, typename... Components, typename Type>
+class View<Pool<Entity, Components...>, Type> final {
+    using pool_type = Pool<Entity, Components...>;
     using entity_type = typename pool_type::entity_type;
 
     struct ViewIterator {
@@ -191,16 +191,17 @@ template<typename>
 struct Registry;
 
 
-template<template<typename...> class Pool, typename... Components>
-struct Registry<Pool<Components...>> final {
+template<template<typename...> class Pool, typename Entity, typename... Components>
+class Registry<Pool<Entity, Components...>> final {
+    using pool_type = Pool<Entity, Components...>;
+
+public:
     static_assert(sizeof...(Components) > 1, "!");
 
-    using entity_type = typename Pool<Components...>::entity_type;
+    using entity_type = typename pool_type::entity_type;
     using size_type = std::size_t;
 
 private:
-    using pool_type = Pool<Components...>;
-
     template<typename Comp>
     void destroy(entity_type entity) {
         if(pool.template has<Comp>(entity)) {
@@ -362,8 +363,12 @@ private:
 };
 
 
+template<typename Entity, typename... Components>
+using StandardRegistry = Registry<ComponentPool<Entity, Components...>>;
+
+
 template<typename... Components>
-using DefaultRegistry = Registry<ComponentPool<Components...>>;
+using DefaultRegistry = Registry<ComponentPool<std::uint32_t, Components...>>;
 
 
 }
diff --git a/test/component_pool.cpp b/test/component_pool.cpp
index 0f21f74e9..8856a0792 100644
--- a/test/component_pool.cpp
+++ b/test/component_pool.cpp
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
+#include <cstddef>
 #include <gtest/gtest.h>
 #include <component_pool.hpp>
 
 TEST(ComponentPool, Functionalities) {
-    using pool_type = entt::ComponentPool<int, double>;
+    using pool_type = entt::ComponentPool<std::uint8_t, int, double>;
 
     pool_type pool{0};
 
@@ -19,7 +20,7 @@ TEST(ComponentPool, Functionalities) {
 }
 
 TEST(ComponentPool, ConstructDestroy) {
-    using pool_type = entt::ComponentPool<double, int>;
+    using pool_type = entt::ComponentPool<std::uint8_t, double, int>;
 
     pool_type pool{4};
 
@@ -107,7 +108,7 @@ TEST(ComponentPool, ConstructDestroy) {
 }
 
 TEST(ComponentPool, HasGet) {
-    using pool_type = entt::ComponentPool<int, char>;
+    using pool_type = entt::ComponentPool<std::uint8_t, int, char>;
 
     pool_type pool;
     const pool_type &cpool = pool;
@@ -126,7 +127,7 @@ TEST(ComponentPool, HasGet) {
 }
 
 TEST(ComponentPool, EntitiesReset) {
-    using pool_type = entt::ComponentPool<int, char>;
+    using pool_type = entt::ComponentPool<std::uint8_t, int, char>;
 
     pool_type pool{2};