You can make "loops": link at least four squares of the same color in a loop and it will remove all the squares of that color on the board. This seems to be a quite unique feature that you find in both Dots and Zop.
Dots goes further; if you encase some other circles in Dots, they turn into "explosives"; this does not.
The behavior of removing all the dots of the same color when you make a square is definitely novel.
Nope, dots does the same thing, and more.
I know that dots does the same thing. I'm refuting the GP who says the game implements no novel behavior (implying that dots has no novel behavior, and that it isn't ripping anything it off). The box behavior is novel and proves that it is ripping dots off since it isn't a rule that you find obvious.